Wicked Games
by teamae
Summary: Tae Yeon refuses to be scared of anything, and all Young Do wants is to see her flustered. She's convinced she has him figured out, and he's just beginning to grasp the concept of her. She's all fluid lines and smiles, and he's all harsh angles and smirks. Young Do wants to play one of his wicked games and Tae Yeon isn't used to backing down.
1. this world is on fire

Despite the sheer mass of it; the building of Jeguk High in itself didn't look all that intimidating. Slightly scary in the way it loomed above you, and glared at you from a distance, enough to ward off any unwelcome visitors – yet not enough to be overwhelming. It spread over a vast expanse of land, enough to build a palace on, just looking at it made Tae Yeon feel tired.

She straightened the peachy-beige skirt that her mother had presented her with yesterday evening (the colour was so obnoxiously different that she was certain Jeguk had chosen it to purposely differentiate their students, as if the need to widen the gap between them and everyone else was that strong) and tugging on her blazer, she began to walk towards what she presumed was the entrance.

It certainly looked that way, with its expensive glass doors and floor to ceiling windows, although there was hardly an obvious sign saying _Entrance to Hell _printed anywhere.

It was further away than it looked, probably like everything else here. She briefly wondered if she would be gifted with a map to navigate this shark tank, or if she was simply meant to know where everything was located, like some sort of inherited knowledge, some sort of test to prove her breeding.

Purposefully ignoring Min Kyung's shouts of encouragement from the car behind her, Tae Yeon decided to focus on the task at hand. Because 1) she really had no idea where she was going and 2) despite the building's barely intimidating appearance, she was fully aware of how dangerous both the students and faculty that lurked inside could be.

They were predators, people who pounced and smelt blood in the air, who savored the scent as they inhaled it and kept it in their lungs. They hunted, scrutinizing, looking for cracks and dents in armor to exploit, searching for possible weaknesses amongst everyone around them – especially newcomers. Tae Yeon was determined not to become their prey, for their searches to yield nothing of use.

To graduate without getting into too many fights.

Once she managed to walk through the door, she felt like Alice stepping into Wonderland, becoming engulfed in an entirely different world. It's noticeably warmer than outside, which is to be expected. Despite the rich's cold blood they have to be kept warm. The air has a sharp tang to it, like disinfectant; the floor a pristine white that could only be maintained by money.

It made a pleasing clacking sound under her shoes.

The obnoxiously large and minimalist clock secured to the wall in front of her alerted her that it was 11.30 – meaning that majority of people were in class. Nevertheless, there were a few students loitering here and there, all immersed in conversation of stocks and tapping on their smartphones. All who apparently deemed that she was no one of interest if the lack of attention that they offered her was anything to go by.

Tae Yeon sighed internally. She was meant to go to the principal's office to make proper greetings, fill out the remaining transfer paperwork and have a brief introduction to the school.

Possibly a map.

_As if. If I ask for one they'll probably laugh in my face. _

Navigating this building and actually locating the office however, was no laughing matter. Not bothering to even contemplate the possibility of bothering one of the nearby students to inquire after the place in question (she knew for certain that they wouldn't help her unless she had some sort of proof of superior social standing, unless she offered them something advantageous in return); so she simply continued walking forwards.

She kept her head held high, as if she knew what she was doing. Rule number one to this world was to act as if you're perfect, to never be wrong – even when you most definitely were.

When she comes to a junction in the hallway, she decides to turn left, still walking purposefully as if she has somewhere to be. There's not as many people in this new corridor, except from a girl standing at an open locker. Tae Yeon continues to walk forwards, assuming the girl will offer no help either, but when she passes her a quiet voice chimes advice.

"Office is down the corridor, and then your first right," the voice says, and the girl is now looking slightly to the right of her now closed locker. Just enough to see tae Yeon, not enough so that it's blatantly obvious who she's addressing. The fact that they're the only two in the corridor makes it clear.

Tae Yeon appreciates the gesture, and wonders if she doesn't look as in control as she thinks she does. Maybe she's been too relaxed, and has grown slack with her mask. She needs more practice.

In her peripheral vision, she can just see the girl and immediately knows the reason that she offered help, unlike her fellow students. Because she's not one of them, her worn shoes and plain backpack tell Tae Yeon that much, so Tae Yeon lets her act drop for a second and shoots her a grateful smile. She continues to walk, but she knows without looking that the girl returns it.

She continues down the hall, and following the girl's instructions turns right when asked. Unsurprisingly, she arrives at her destination unscathed – because she knew that the girl would not purposefully give her misleading information. Her voice hadn't been spiteful or fake, it had been transparent. Although her act might be out of practice, her skill of detecting falsities was honed to protection.

She's thankful to that girl, and wonders if she'll ever find out her name.

The woman behind the receptionist desk is middle-aged and has her hair in a low-slung ponytail. It's been coloured an unnatural shade of blonde that doesn't quite match her fair complexion, and her eyeliner is thick and dark so much so that she resembles a tiger. A tiger in the heart of the school, in the perfect place to watch and prey on the weak; to gain intel on those who will be ruling the country after they graduate. She shares the students at the entrance's look of disinterest, but at least this woman has the courtesy to plaster on a smile (however fake), make eye contact and ask how she can be of help.

_Time to practice my act. _

Tae Yeon returns her smile, although she's willing to bet that hers is far more convincing from experience, and states that she's a new transfer student and is supposed to meet with the principal to fill in the remaining paperwork.

The receptionist tells her to 'wait a moment' and Tae Yeon nods accordingly as the woman flicks through a diary with her grotesquely long, red nails until she comes to the correct page; Tae Yeon watches as she trails the same finger down the paper until she manages to locate what she's looking for and nods.

"Yes, you're Miss Kang, correct?"

Tae Yeon nods again. "That would be me," her cheeks start to feel strained from smiling and maybe she has to start practicing in her bathroom mirror again.

"I have you scheduled to meet the Chairwoman, if you'll follow me," the receptionist stands from her chair and Tae Yeon watches boredly as it spins round a couple of times. "I'm sure you can make your introductions to the Principal at a later date; hopefully on good terms."

Tae Yeon lets out a light laugh that she can tell the woman is expecting, and the woman looks pleased with her.

_Point one to me_, Tae Yeon thinks. _One person pleased, at least another five to go. _

Making alliances and pleasing people was important to her survival, necessary rather than something she enjoys. She's lead down another corridor and another, and Tae Yeon wonders if the reason this place so resembles a labyrinth is to ensure that no one ever leaves. Which then of course leaves her to wonder if she's being lead to the Minotaur in the centre, and what kind of strings her mother's pulled to arrange a meeting with the Chairwoman. Or if Jeguk Group deemed the Principal unable to handle her transfer.

_I never thought I was this important. _

The receptionist knocks briskly on the door and is met with a prompt response of "Come in."

Tae Yeon wonders if its not too late to leave, and whether or not she'd be able to escape by herself, or if she'd get lost along the way.

The room is cold, explained by the presence of the air conditioner on the opposite wall. The walls are painted light blue, continuing with Jeguk Group's theme, and trophies and awards, certificates and the like line the wall in perfect fashion. Her eyes scan the room quickly, before reaching the Chairwoman and she hopes her wandering gaze hasn't been noticed. If it has, the Chairwoman hides it quickly.

She's an older lady with her hair scraped back into a bun, delicately arranged strands of hair framing her face and Tae Yeon can't quite decide if the hairdo makes the woman look younger of if she's trying too hard. The Chairwoman stands immediately upon seeing Tae Yeon and offers her hand, which Tae Yeon shakes whilst respectfully bowing her head and greeting her a good afternoon.

The Chairwoman waves her bow away, and smiles winningly at her, insisting that she sits. There's something about the Chairwoman that simply boasts power, as if it radiates from her core. The type of power that even money can't buy – power supported by the heavy, expensive looking plaque on her desk reading "Chairwoman Jeong" and the smile on her face that looks so friendly it must be fake. Tae Yeon knows she won't be eager to meet with her again.

"Ah, Miss Kang, it's so nice to meet you. I hope you're well?" The Chairwoman asks, and her voice is so falsely sweet that Tae Yeon feels a little sick. She needs to build up her tolerance to it if she hopes to last even a day at Jeguk without having to rush to the bathroom to vomit.

She wonders how the Chairwoman managed to wrestle this position back and worm her way back into Jeguk Group. Her and the Chairman's divorce had been very public and probably very embarrassing on her behalf; and yet somehow she'd managed to remain control of the school. The Chairman must be ignorant, or the Chairwoman a very good fighter – because having control of the nation's heirs is a great asset to have, and it's no longer in his control. Here stands the woman who can shape the future for the next generation's richest people, and maybe that's what makes her so scary. She doubts asking how exactly the Chairwoman managed this feat would do her many favours.

"Yes Chairwoman, thank you," Tae Yeon says instead, hushing the voices in her head. "Just a little nervous but that's to be expected." They both laugh and Tae Yeon is impressed with just how natural the Chairwoman's high pitched giggle sounds. She's only ever heard one other person manage to make their laugh sound so sincere, someone she's not too keen to meet with again either – and she has no doubt that the person opposite her is just as dangerous.

"Of course dear," she's also the only other person to call her dear, Tae Yeon thinks wryly. There are so many similarities the Chairwoman might as well be his mother, but she's met his mother and knows that this is just a sign of exactly how powerful the Chairwoman is. "I hope you starting late doesn't make the situation more difficult," the Chairwoman adds and Tae Yeon can just about pick up the note of irritation in the Chairwoman's tone and shakes her head politely.

Ideally, she'd have transferred at the beginning of the school year, and progressed to the year above with everyone else, but she'd been wrestling with her mother over her transfer for the past week and had unfortunately inevitably lost. She had however, managed to wrangle more time to say goodbye to her old life, and begin training herself to endure hell. Instead, she was starting in the second week of the year, upsetting the time table and the Chairwoman was clearly annoyed by this.

"I doubt it, everyone so far has been very accommodating and polite," Tae Yeon envisions the people loitering around uninterestedly in the hallways, acting like she didn't exist as she says this. "I do apologize for my lateness this morning. I had a prior appointment that was unavoidable."

Which was partly true. The reason for her delay in starting today had been due to an appointment, and yet her actual delay in arriving was down to a certain Go Min Kyung.

She feels no guilt for lying, however, as she'd stomped out that habit years ago. She does, instead, feel slightly agitated at her own lateness, as it would make a bad impression on the Chairwoman who Tae Yeon has already decided not to cross.

Min Kyung had insisted on taking her to school – claiming that his Tae Yeon's first day of school was something that couldn't be missed – and when Go Min Kyung insists on something, it's far easier to relent than to try and struggle against it.

A lesson that Tae Yeon has learnt from experience.

He'd then insisted on buying her breakfast, which Tae Yeon had had to leave the car for because despite Min Kyung mock reprimanding her for delaying their departure she knew he had a strict rule of no eating in his car, and that if she made a mess in it rather than arriving late to Jeguk High, she'd be arriving in a body bag.

He'd then run a couple of errands, ignoring Tae Yeon's protest, causing Tae Yeon to become increasingly frustrated; especially since he knew how much she despised being late.

"_What's faster than a car? How else were you going to get there?" Min Kyung teased, and Tae Yeon barely rested the urge to smack him round the head and tell him that anything would be faster than him – considering he was driving far slower than usual, even slower than when she was in the car with him. _

_It usually irritated Min Kyung to drive as slow, but that came second to the enjoyment he received from annoying her. _

"_The bus." _

"_Not even a taxi?" _

_Tae Yeon shot him a look in the rear view mirror. _

"_I'm doing you a favour, those kids'll eat you alive if you arrive on the bus." _

"_Then I would have given them indigestion and torn them apart on my way out," she said and Min Kyung laughed loudly and wrapped one arm around the back of her seat. _

"_Hands on the wheel Go Min Kyung." _

When they'd finally pulled up to the school, the clock on his dashboard had read 11.20 and Tae Yeon was livid. She'd told her mother she'd be there for 11, and if Min Kyung hadn't been taking his time even with breakfast, they should have reached there at 10.50.

"_I'll come pick you up when you're finished." _

"_Don't bother. I might not be feeling murderous enough to act on the impulse to kill you now, but I'm sure a day here will change that," she'd warned. _

"_Good," Min Kyung clapped. "Channel that anger into warding off your nerves." _

"_I'm not nervous," Tae Yeon had insisted, a little too passionately and Min Kyung looked smug. _

"_I can read you like a book Kang Tae Yeon, don't try and hide from your oppa." _

_Tae Yeon rolled her eyes and turned around. _

"_Your oppa doesn't even get a goodbye hug?" _

_She stuck her tongue out at him over her shoulder and he had laughed at her. _

Tae Yeon didn't mention any of this to the Chairwoman of course, and instead continued to smile apologetically.

"No need for apologies, I'm sure a nice girl like you will settle in with no troubles."

Tae Yeon nodded again, and her mother's words to her the night before echoed in her mind.

"_Settle in, don't make trouble. Make good friends, find a handsome boy."_

_Find a rich boy more like._

* * *

Half an hour later and Tae Yeon had filled out most of the required paperwork. Her hand had hovered and she'd hesitated when it asked for her parents' occupations and the Chairwoman noticed; waving it off once more.

"Don't worry about that," she'd insisted and Tae Yeon decided that the reason the Chairwoman's voice was so grating was because it came from the nose, "They're all just formalities."

Tae Yeon obeyed and skipped over it. Finally finishing, they'd discussed her family and various other topics for a while, although Tae Yeon was itching all over to bolt out of the office, to leave the lioness' den.

The bell rang just as the Chairwoman finished telling her that if she had any other troubles, to 'feel free to come straight to her'.

_I wonder if she says that to all of the new students that come here. _

The Chairwoman then proceeded to usher her out of the door, signaling the much anticipated end of the force pleasantries and the least anticipated start of lunch.

Lunch was all a show of power circles and connections, and after half an hour of blagging her way through conversation, Tae Yeon was not feeling up to it.

Eventually the receptionist desk returned to view and a boy roughly her age stood there, fiddling with his sleeves.

"Ah, Yoon Chan Young. Just in time," the Chairwoman greets and the boy turns around and bows his head respectfully.

Yoon Chan Young presents something of an enigma, because much like the girl from earlier it looks like he is not from money, and yet there are other signs all over him that contradict this statement. Like his branded backpack, the barely scuffed shoes.

The wide, genuine smile on his face is the most bizarre of all, because that is not a trait that belongs to someone with money.

"Chan Young here will show you to the cafeteria for lunch," the Chairwoman explains and Tae

Yeon thinks that if she nods politely one more time her head might detach itself from her neck.

Chan Young looks expectantly at her, and she knows the smile is genuine because he doesn't seem at all pained by the massive prolonged grin on his face. "Shall we go?"

Tae Yeon smiles back and feels relaxed by how naturally this one comes. "Lead the way," she says.

They exit the office together and Chan Young takes her in the opposite direction of the entrance.

_Perhaps I need to pack a spool of thread in my backpack tomorrow to remember all these places. _

Walking besides Chan Young is comfortable and easy, the atmosphere light and companionable even after just meeting moments ago and this adds itself onto the list of reasons suggesting Chan Young isn't from money.

"I'm Yoon Chan Young," he reintroduces himself a couple of beats later, smiling down at her. "I'm class president, so if you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to ask me."

Tae Yeon wonders if he has any questions for her. Like why she was conversing with the Chairwoman instead of the Principal, if she comes from money or not. He doesn't ask either like she expects any other student would, and she finds herself increasingly grateful for Yoon Chan Young and her incredible luck so far.

No one can act that genuinely nice, as nice as Chan Young. Only one person could come close, but Tae Yeon refuses to acknowledge his existence.

"Thank you. For showing me where to go, and for being nice," because although she doubts he had much choice in showing her the cafeteria, she's learnt long ago that niceties are always optional and she can tell that Chan Young knows this too. "I'm Kang Tae Yeon," she says and he holds out a hand for her to shake.

She eyes it skeptically, eyes flickering from the outstretched hand upwards to Chan Young's face. He doesn't miss this, and when she relents and shakes it he chuckles lightly and she finds herself laughing too.

"Nice to meet you Tae Yeon."

Tae Yeon appraises the boy besides her, and selects an appropriate way to address him. "You too sunbae."

Chan Young waves this away, and unlike the Chairwoman's constant dismissal Tae Yeon knows that his gesture is sincere. "Just call me Chan Young."

Tae Yeon nods and they make idle chit chat, pointedly avoiding questions about business and the like. Tae Yeon feels like a warning is on the tip of his tongue, and that he's holding it back. It goes unsaid between them, and Tae Yeon makes a mental list of the possibilities. That their classmates have sharp teeth and razor-like claws, cutting words and wit, judgment that can prove crucial. Tae Yeon wants to tell him that he doesn't have to worry about it, class president or not – that she already knows.

They stop abruptly in front of a set of glass doors, and she realizes that she'd been so caught up in conversation that she'd forgotten to remember her path.

"I'm going to get so lost," she comments without thinking, and realizes too late that she's let her guard down for Chan Young, but is soothed by the further realization that Chan Young's laugh is as happy as his personality.

"You'll get used to it, and until then I'll be your guide. Just don't tell my girlfriend," he says. "She can be scary, but she's so cute when she's jealous," he adds and the look on his face as he talks about his girlfriend likens Chan Young to a puppy so much it's ridiculous – and she wonders if even the rich draw lines when it comes to kicking him.

People are just beginning to filter in through the doors on the opposite side of the cafeteria as Chan Young opens the door and a gust of warm air rushes out to meet them; along with the clanging of utensils on expensive plates.

"People might stare," Chan Young warns, gesturing for her to go first.

"As long as none of those people are your girlfriend getting the wrong impression and threatening to kill me, I'll survive." The sentence gets lost in the dim swell of conversation, yet the grin on Chan Young's face is a clear indication that he heard her. Everyone on display looks immaculately perfect, makeup all in place, eyeliner thickness carefully gaged. Uniforms all neat and pristine and they all look like dolls straight out of packaging and Tae Yeon feels her skin start to crawl. Chan Young leads her to the lunch line and takes a try and plate for both himself and her.

This chivalry distracts her from her observations. Maybe chivalry isn't entirely extinct, Tae Yeon muses. And it exists solely inside Chan Young. She'll have to tell Min Kyung she might have found a replacement for him in regards to being her best friend.

"Help yourself to whatever you want, if you finish first wait for me and we can go sit together," Chan Young says as she helps herself to rice. His last statement was timed just as there was a pause in the surrounding conversation, and it cuts across the large room. It acts as a catalyst for the inevitable reaction as heads begin to swivel towards her, already using their naturally ingrained instincts to make assumptions based on appearance.

She's perfectly aware that her navy backpack and cream shoes betray nothing of importance, nevertheless that doesn't stop Chan Young from looking incredibly apologetic.

"Your girlfriend won't mind?" She asks, pretending like at least fifty stares aren't carving holds into her back.

Chan Young plays along nicely. "I'll introduce you to her, and my friends. Besides, she's so adorable when she threatens people."

"And you care about how cute she is more than the life of the new student you've been tasked with taking care of?"

Chan Young shrugs nonchalantly. "Girlfriend before friends, right?"

Tae Yeon shrugs back, having long ago decided she doesn't mind being his friend.

They get separated somewhere in the middle of the lunch line, with Chan Young still near the front. On the other hand, she's already filled a bowl with soup and finished loading her plate with the least amount of food she can manage. She's still full from the noodles that Min Kyung had bought her, yet doesn't want to be disrespectful to Chan Young so she stands at the end of the lien as people continue to unabashedly glance at her every now and then; their gaze intensifying until they're almost in her face as they brush past her.

She refuses to flinch under their gaze and instead wonders if Chan Young can't hurry up a little as she holds her lunch tray. Tae Yeon's eyes roam the cafeteria, deciding to stare back at some of the culprits. She sees a couple of faces here and there, ones that look vaguely familiar but none that draw up a name. She exhales slightly when she confirms that there's no one she knows, as if there was any shadow of a doubt that someone could spring up from the very depths of hell and materialize before her.

Tae Yeon has a certain someone in mind when she thinks this, and yet refuses to acknowledge it.

Finally her eyes land on a group of girls in the cafeteria. They've formed a ring around someone else, and although she can't make out the girl in the centre from where she's standing – judging by the sneers present on the surrounding people she doubts it's a friendly meeting.

Tae Yeon glances back at Chan Young to find that he's still heaping vegetables on his plate. She sighs and remembers her mother telling her not to cause trouble.

_At least I've found a nice boy. Just not the type that you want. _

She begins to walk briskly to the group conjugated in the middle of the cafeteria, and thankfully everyone's attentions have switched from her to the unfolding scene so she slips by unnoticed. She's still grasping the metal tray and assesses its uses to her, deciding that worst come to worst the soup would make an adequate missile if need be.

As she comes up behind them, she hears a snatch of conversation.

"Who do you think you are, coming in here to eat with us with your cheap shoes and your cheap looks?" One girl questions in an annoyingly high pitched tone. Tae Yeon figures out what this is about almost instantly, and sighs. She'd known that this type of discrimination had happened, but still hadn't anticipated a confrontation to occur within her first hour here. Tae Yeon wonders if this is the warning Chan Young was contemplating giving her. That if she has no money, she will become everyone else's lackey.

"I'm sorry," comes a voice from the centre, and it's blatantly monotonous, and long past the point of caring. It suggests that she's been through this on more than one account, and has grown bored of it. "I'll try and be quiet when I eat if you let me go."

Another girl snorts rather unattractively at her and Tae Yeon feels like pointing out that the sound indicates improper manners and horrible breeding, that she'd be shunned in a business meeting for doing so – but relents because she's still too far away to properly interfere and she curses the size of this building and all of its rooms.

"Kim Tan's not here to protect you today, Choi Young Do's suspended and Yoon Chan Young was pulled out of class earlier," the same girl continues, accentuating her sentence with a flip of her hair. "There's no one here to save you, and no one for you to sit with, so just leave. Quickly."

"She can sit with me," Tae Yeon offers, finally close enough to be heard and all the girls snap round to face her, granting her with a view of the girl they've been taunting.

She's at least half ahead shorter than her bullies, mainly due to her flat shoes. Her face is pulled into a surprised expression, indicating she honestly hadn't been expecting anyone to interfere. Tae Yeon notices her shoes and her backpack, and deduces that this is the same girl that helped her earlier.

Her mother always advised her against doing people favors, because although putting someone into her debt was advantageous, it was hassling.

Repaying a favor was a different matter, although Tae Yeon had long since given up on justifying her decisions to her mother.

"What?" Another girl exclaims, outraged at the boldness of this transfer student. This girl's face resembles that of an owl, and her shriek suddenly sounds it too. Tae Yeon grins at her, and its all teeth and the girl visibly flinches. For someone who appears to be at the bottom of the food chain, she's certainly doing well at scaring them.

"I said she could sit with me," Tae Yeon repeats, enunciating each word clearly, so that the girl can hear her. Her eyes lock with the girl in the centre who is now smiling softly at her. Tae Yeon allows the edges of her mouth to soften into an actual smile. "Or should I say I could sit with her, if she doesn't mind?"

The girl shakes her head, and Tae Yeon feels slightly relieved at this. Yet she's the only one to notice the gesture as everyone else's eyes are once again firmly transfixed on her. No one is speaking, and the silence is quickly escalating into something else, and although Tae Yeon really doesn't mind, she has to at least attempt to hold the semblance of a promise she made to her mother. "Really, it's very good fortune that the people who have no one to sit with have found each other. You helped me to find her, so for that I am grateful to you," Tae Yeon completes this with a bow of her head, almost bending in half. She's over-exaggerating it to the point of ridiculousness and this has the girls seething.

Tae Yeon walks away, and gestures for the girl to lead her. The walk to a nearby table and sit down opposite one another, placing their lunch trays in front of each other.

"Cha Eun Sang, are you okay?" Chan Young comes storming over with a smaller girl in tow; a girl whose struggling to keep up with him as her hair bow threatens to slip out of her head.

_Cha Eun Sang. Finally I can stop calling you the girl from earlier. _

"I'm fine," Eun Sang reassures him as Chan Young seats himself next to her, and his scary girlfriend seats herself next to Tae Yeon.

"Thank you," Eun Sang says and Tae Yeon shakes her head.

"Thank you for sitting with me," Tae Yeon says and Eun Sang laughs along with her.

"I think you have competition for being my best friend," Eun Sang says and he pouts at her.

Tae Yeon looks to Chan Young as she grasps her chopsticks. "I know you said to wait for you, but I have a habit of interfering I haven't been able to stop."

Chan Young holds his hands up. "Interfere all you like."

Chan Young's girlfriend finally speaks up, reaching across the table to hit him on the shoulder and glare at him. "Who do you think you are, asking girls other than me to wait for you?"

A twinkle appears in his eyes as he replies, and Tae Yeon wonders if this is what love is supposed to look like. "Then would you have me ditch our new classmate?"

His girlfriend finally acknowledges her presence and turns to squint at her. She's sitting next to her, and Tae Yeon can smell the perfume she uses, and knows that its expensive, and that this girl is made of something different from Chan Young and Eun Sang. And yet the fact that she's willing to sit with the two of them, to date Chan Young vouches more for her character than the gold and diamond earrings in her earlobes. Tae Yeon tries not to laugh and finally registers what Chan Young had meant earlier as his girlfriend's eyes continue to narrow.

His girlfriend was quite cute when she was jealous.

"You must be Chan Young's girlfriend," she says and Eun Sang starts eating her lunch as if Chan Young's girlfriend trying to give the death glare to someone was an everyday occurrence; Tae Yeon is willing to bet that it does. Tae Yeon prides herself on her readings of people, and she can tell that this girl is the sort to love easily, and get jealous easily, but can tell she has a light heart.

_Good for you, Yoon Chan Young. _

"Why? What did he say about me?"

Tae Yeon pretends to contemplate this, and Eun Sang looks up in curiosity. Chan Young is looking pleadingly at her.

"He said you were very cute and beautiful, incredibly adorable when you're jealous, and you fit that description." His girlfriend absolutely melts at this, and turns to Chan Young lovingly who quickly halts the grateful look he'd been giving Tae Yeon.

"You really said that about me?" She says, and she's positively bouncing on her chair. "You really think I'm all those things?" she beams.

Tae Yeon nods, and suddenly she's being enveloped in a rather lung-crushing embrace. Tae Yeon decides that her perfume's not that bad, not as bad as the jealousy and apprehension that she can whiff whenever she'd come close into contact with the rest of the students.

"Yah, are you trying to steal everyone from me?" Chan Young jokes and Tae Yeon smirks back at him. There's hardly room to say anything else, what with his girlfriend constricting her windpipe.

"I'm Lee Bo Na," his girlfriend says with a flip of her hair, and the name sounds vaguely familiar to her; although Tae Yeon can't quite place it. Unlike everyone else whose faces only registered slight familiarity, the name Lee Bo Na tugs on her mind, as does her face.

_Yet I think I would remember someone like you. _

"Kang Tae Yeon," Tae Yeon says, and begins to chew on a mouthful of rice, and sips a spoonful of soup.

"Nice to meet you Tae Yeon," Bo Na says. "I haven't seen you around before."

"If she's a new student does it make sense for you to have seen her before?" Eun Sang asks and Bo Na pointedly ignores her. Chan Young is simply watching his girlfriend with a look of adoration in his eyes that has Tae Yeon's heart clench.

_I want a boy to look at me like that, as uncomplicated as that. With no difficulties._

The thought strikes her and she slams it back into the drawer that it came from. She locks it shut and tosses the key into the dark abyss of her mind.

_I am not thinking about that now. _

Bo Na is still looking expectantly at her, but Tae Yeon knows she couldn't have zoned out for more than a couple of seconds. Despite Eun Sang's logical comment, she knows what Bo Na had meant. She means that she hasn't seen her face, doesn't recognize it besides Tae Yeon's initial familiarity with her name. That she hasn't seen her at any galas or meetings.

Tae Yeon doesn't say any of this and instead explains herself according to Eun Sang's interpretation of the question. "It's my first day. I wasn't in this morning, but I came in around 11.30 and Chan Young guided me here from the office."

"Just in time to be my hero," Eun Sang says, and the conversation is light and Tae Yeon once again finds herself grateful to have found this group of people so quickly. The gods must be smiling down upon her, shining a golden light among the few nice people in this fish tank.

"What's wrong with those girls anyway? Just because Kim Tan isn't here. Is Kim Tan the only one who can offer you protection?" Chan Young asks indignantly, stopping his tender adoration of Bo Na. Eun Sang sighs into her spoon, and this is a conversation she has clearly long grown tired of.

Then, as if struck by some sort of epiphany, turns to Tae Yeon. "What kind of new student is stupid enough to interfere with that sort of a thing on their first day?"

"Lee Bo Na," Chan Young reprimands her and Bo Na's expression turns into one of guilt.

"I can be stupid when it suits me. Plus, Eun Sang helped me this morning, so it only seemed fair."

"That was you?" Eun Sang asks incredulously and Tae Yeon smiles.

"I think I would have been dragged off and sacrificed to the God of wealth and beauty if you hadn't given me directions."

Eun Sang laughs, and Tae Yeon decides perhaps Jeguk High won't be all that bad.

* * *

By the end of the week, Tae Yeon's pleasantly surprised to have found good friends in Eung Sang, Chan Young and even the quirky Bo Na. She meets Myung Soo on the Friday, and the boy claims that the reasoning behind his absence is due to the fact he's been boycotting school in protest of someone named Choi Young Do's suspension – but no one quite believes him.

He's cute and childlike and Tae Yeon warms to him instantly; finding similarities between him and Min Kyung in a heartbeat. Myung Soo is overly trusting for someone attending Jeguk High, and at first Tae Yeon wonders if he's too dense to realize how dangerous it is, but soon learns he's just overly trusting. She supposes the fact that his parents are the leading lawyers in the country and he's endearingly adorable is enough to keep him afloat in these dangerous waters.

Eun Sang's Kim Tan however, she's not entirely sure of.

She'd met him on her second day, before her and Eun Sang had entered homeroom. She'd been waiting for Eun Sang to retrieve her books from her locker whilst they chatted idly about various school experiences, including various embarrassing tales featuring Chan Young – a conversation that had started that morning. Tae Yeon had discovered on her first day that Eun Sang took the bus to school, and when she got on the bus that second morning to see Eun Sang already there; Eun Sang didn't question it and instead moved her backpack from the seat next to her and gestured for Tae Yeon to sit down.

"Good morning," a boy had said as he snaked his arms around Eun Sang's waist, causing Eun Sang to suddenly halt her story about something Bo Na had done to a girl named Yoo Rachel – blushing cutely. Tae Yeon hasn't seen the boy before, and doesn't remember him from yesterday. Just like Bo Na's name, the boy's face seems familiar. Judging from how comfortable he is with Eun Sang and how deeply she's blushing, Tae Yeon had concluded that this is the boyfriend she hard about yesterday: the infamous Kim Tan.

Tae Yeon had watched amusedly as he took Eun Sang's books from her, despite her loud protests. "I heard you got into trouble at lunch yesterday?" He asks, and Eun Sang froze, before her blush intensified.

"I'm going to kill that Yoon Chan Young," Eun Sang had declared.

"And I'm going to kill those girls," Kim Tan said, and Tae Yeon leant further against the row of lockers to get a better view of the couple, thoroughly enjoying the embarrassed expression on Eung Sang's face. Kim Tan had paused. "Sorry for not being here to save you."

"No need," she'd said, closing her locker and patting his chest. "I've already found a new hero to replace you," she'd added, and smiled at Tae Yeon.

Tan noticed her then for the first time, and raised his eyebrows at her. Tae Yeon notes the way they disappear beneath his oddly-young looking fringe.

"Who are you?" he'd asked bluntly.

"She's a friend," Eun Sang stated defensively, and Tae Yeon felt warmed by the idea of Eung Sang defending her. "She started school yesterday."

Tan had looked at her, in the way that all of the other students had, in a way that showed he thought he was superior; so she'd looked straight back. From the top of his head, to the bottom of his maroon sneakers. Kim Tan was tall, taller than Chan Young – perhaps the same height as Min Kyung. His face wore an expression of sever passivity, and it had only looked slightly warmer when he'd been conversing with Eun Sang. Nothing in comparison to the way Chan Young had looked at Bo Na yesterday. When he'd next spoke, his voice had taken on a tone of indignation. "And why does a new student think she should interfere in other people's business?"

Eun Sang had hit him squarely in the chest, and he paid no attention. "Yah, Kim Tan!" Eun Sang scolded, and Kim Tan merely reached up to hold her hand as she prepared to hit him again.

Tae Yeon arches her eyebrows. "Excuse me?" she asks, and she notices how her voice has gone quiet.

"Busy bodies don't last well here."

"Kim Tan!" Eun Sang exclaimed again, shooting Tae Yeon an apologetic look. However Tae Yeon felt her temper rising quickly, and she doesn't have the time to quell it before she acts out; no matter how much she values Eun Sang's friendship.

She does not appreciate people making assumptions, or telling her what she can or can't do, what is expected or not expected of her. "Boyfriends who give people the impression it's okay to bully his girlfriend when he's not there don't last well in relationships," she quips back, and the sore expression on Tan's face had told her that she'd managed to strike a raw nerve.

"What are you?" Tan demanded.

"A friend," Eun Sang repeated, agitated that he's paying no attention to her reprimands. Tae Yeon could tell that she was actively trying to diffuse the tension, almost on instinct; as if she's had to do it many times before. Tae Yeon hopes for Eun Sang's sake that it's usually more successful.

"Kang Tae Yeon," she says and Kim Tan continued to look unimpressed.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, and the glint of recognition that had flickered in his eyes when she says her name made her stomach twist.

Eun Sang appeared to have given up, instead grabbing onto Kim Tan's wrist with her free hand as if preparing to drag him away.

"No," Tae Yeon looked closely at him, squinting for added effect much like Bo Na had yesterday. "Should i?"

"I'm Kim Tan," he'd said, and Tae Yeon remembered the name from yesterday, and had then racked her brain for somewhere else she might have heard it, that makes him think it's that important – yet comes up short.

"Great," she'd said flatly when her search had come up empty.

"I'm Kim Nam Yoon's son," he'd continued, and it clicked into place in her mind.

"You're Jeguk Group's second son."

Eun Sang looked between the two of them curiously.

"Yes. And the Chairwoman of this school is my father's ex-wife," he said matter-of-factly. Explained the ridiculous hair, perhaps the Chairwoman had influenced his fashion choices. He'd stated it obviously, as if there was any way that Tae Yeon wouldn't know. As if his relation to the Chairwoman had to be stated separately from being Kim Nam Yoon's son. He is telling her that he knows the Chairwoman, that this is the Chairwoman's school, that the Chairwoman controls this school, and so Kim Tan knows _her. _

The intended meaning is clear. Kim Tan is telling her that he knows who she is, even though she's been trying so hard to not let anyone know. He is telling her to be careful, that this is his school, and that she needs to watch her place.

It's a blatant threat, and Tae Yeon doesn't take kindly to it.

Eun Sang apparently picked up on his tone, and decided she had had enough. "Kim Tan, stop," Eun Sang had said and when Tan glanced down at her he looks slightly hurt at her for not siding with him – then proceeds to storm off.

Tae Yeon had snapped out of her temper the minute Tan left her sight. "Sorry if I spoke out of line and offended you."

Eun Sang shook her head. "No need, I apologize on his behalf. He's incredibly protective of his friends, and ridiculously wary of everyone. He'll come around."

Tae Yeon must have looked as unconvinced as she felt, for Eun Sang continued as she linked her elbow through Tae Yeon's. "He has to, because I am not about to lose my new friend to his bad attitude," and then she's leading her to their home room and Tae Yeon is too focused on giving her introduction to care anymore.

* * *

_An OC FanFiction? I know, how 2010 of me. I remember when I wrote my first FanFiction, looked back at it and swore to never write OC fic again. And yet the Heirs has pushed me to it._

_Kim Tan and Eun Sang just wasn't doing it for me, and I lost interest in him and Eun Sang's love line despairingly quickly, and just hoping for more Young Do._

_Of course I never get what I want, and I didn't think that I had a clear enough interpretation of what I thought Eun Sang was like to do her justice in my writing (especially compared to all the other fics out there); so I scrapped that idea and made my own character._

_I have an obscenely clear picture of where I want this story to go, and I've mainly figured out exactly who I think Tae Yeon and Young Do are._

_Hopefully someone enjoys reading this as much as I enjoy writing it (not that it'll stop me because I am having the time of my life)._


	2. i want to see you flustered

Choi Young Do is not impressed in the least as he's dropped off at school by his father's driver. He'd wanted to ride his motorcycle, but his father had adamantly refused, declaring that if he got even _close_ to suspension one more time he would disown him. He'd countered that by inquiring what would happen to his inheritance then.

_Will you give it to your favourite mistress? Or share it out amongst them? _

The comment was well worth the now healing bruise on his cheek.

Young Do began to amble towards the office, having purposefully had his driver drop him off on the complete opposite side of the campus. He was supposed to have a meeting with the Chairwoman this morning – the Principal had long since grown tired of his antics – and Young Do was in absolutely no rush to attend. The longer the Chairwoman had to wait, the frostier her office became and Young Do always preferred the cold. He stuck his tongue in his pockets as he whistled a tune that was majorly off-key.

According to his expensive watch (that he'd bought on his father's credit card when he'd been itching to piss him off), the first bell should have rung nine minutes ago; meaning that everyone was in homeroom and the hallways were empty.

He was halfway to the office (having deliberately taken an alternative, longer route to avoid passing classrooms – he wasn't particularly in the mood to be gaped at through the unnecessarily large glass windows yet), when a figure suddenly appeared around the corner.

The figure in question turned out to be a girl walking rather briskly, phone out and pressed to her ear. He could hear her talking to it in a hushed tone, and the voice didn't register as familiar. Young Do couldn't remember seeing her before, and he had an extensive list of all of Jeguk High's students in the forefront of his brain so that he could cross-reference businesses and weaknesses and the like – and his curiosity sparked.

"Go Min Kyung I am going to kill you and then dance on your grave," the girl hissed into her phone, her head was down as she walked, glaring intensely at the floor.

Young Do chuckled lowly at the girl's threat, and remained where he stood in the middle of the hallway; arms crossed over his chest as he watched on in amusement.

_Let's see where you stand, girl. I wonder if you'll be so quick to threaten me? _

"My second week of school and you have already made me late twice, after insisting that it would be _much _faster if I came with you," she continued and Young Do smirked. "I am going to key your car I swear to God. No I am _not _joking, you just let me catch you."

Apparently Jeguk High had tried to sneak in a new student while he was suspended, probably to give her a chance to settle before he decided whether or not he wanted to strike. To give the appearance that it wasn't as dangerous as he made it. If Jeguk Group was smiling upon him, this girl would be in his class. There was definitely room for her, a chair and desk directly on his right, left behind after Yoo Rachel had decided to transfer to some fancy language school somewhere else to escape their insanity.

_And insanity took the form of Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang. _

Young Do probably would have contemplated transferring to, if his record wasn't as dirty as his father's money. Plus, finding a school willing to sweep most of his discrepancies under the rug in exchange for Zeus Group's support wasn't all that easy.

He promised that he'd increase Zeus Group's support and buy a major amount of stocks if Jeguk presented him with this present. All wrapped up in a peach skirt and fresh blazer.

The girl swore angrily into the phone in a different language – Young Do couldn't hear it distinctly enough to place it but filed the information away in his mind nevertheless – and then tapped the phone, clearly frustrated to hang up. As she slipped it back into her inner blazer pocket, Young Do took a large step to the left and shifted so that he was directly in front of her as she walked.

_Time to see what you're made of, new transfer student. _

The girl bumped straight into him, her head colliding with his chest. He caught her shoulders gently as she bounced backwards.

_Start off gentle, and then see what you find when you crack open the surface. _

The girl bowed her head.

_Respectful, good. It's better to know where you are, although it borders on becoming boring. _

The girl made to move around him, but he held her shoulders tighter, forcing her to stand still. "Watch where you're going next time, or someone might just trip you," he said, plastering a smile on his face and tilting his head to the side. He made sure that his words were polite, as well as his expression, but his voice was low – the kind that had been known to raise goose bumps on more than one occasion.

It appeared to have the opposite effect on her however, as her politeness disappeared and she twisted her shoulders aggressively out of his grip and glared at him. The rate at which her respectful demeanor was dissipating was impressive.

_Maybe not that boring after all. _

"Am I the only one who can see?" she retorted, and she looked him up and down embarrassedly, and he watched as she took in his height. At this proximity, she had to peer up just to look him in the face. How cute.

Tae Yeon assessed him. He was taller than Tan and Min Kyung for sure, and she didn't recognize his face from when she'd introduced herself to the class last Tuesday, or after walking around the school for a week. It triggered alarm bells in her head, and she hushed them. "Maybe you should watch where you're going too, _sunbae_."

The last word was said with more spite than Young Do thought a girl of her size could contain. It was refreshing, having someone stand up to him again. Eun Sang had been the last one dim enough to dare, and even then the liveliness had been stomped out of her after her final 'win' with Tan. He wasn't as eager to crush it out of this new girl. Not when things were just beginning to get interesting.

His smirk grew wider. "Look at this little transfer student," he reached down to ruffle her hair and the flush of anger on the girl's face doubled in a way that was pleasing to Young Do's eyes. "So respectful, yet such a temper. Let's see if we can't get that under control and turn you into a proper lady."

She huffed and made to go around him again, and this time Young Do made true of his warning and stuck his foot out. He watched her fall for a fraction of a second, before grasping her upper arm and pulling her upright again. He watched the disbelief and then anger flit across her face, and remembered another similar situation and another similar expression. Yet at the same time, this girl was already so different from Cha Eun Sang. Hopefully she could last longer before coming dreadfully boring and 'in love'.

_You're pretty, transfer student. But I think we've all had enough of the transfer student meets rich boy love story. _

"You - "

Unfortunately, he never got to hear what the new transfer student thought of him (at least not yet, he decided he'd have to trip her again at a later date in order to find out) for a loud voice suddenly interrupted her.

"Choi Young Do, what do you think you're doing?" Came a loud voice from behind him. Young Do cursed as the girl looked over his shoulder, her forearm still in his hold. He observed the shocked and then pleased look settle in her eyes.

Young Do closed his eyes. With my luck it would be the Chairwoman herself come to look for him – and if the news that he was manhandling yet another transfer student reached his father he would see just how serious his threats of disowning him were.

_Especially if you're new money_, he thought, examining the girl up close. There were no obvious signs of wealth, yet none of extreme poverty either.

Excellent, I love a mystery.

Turning around, a breath escaped his mouth that he refused to admit he'd been holding. It was Teacher Jeon. Teacher Jeon Hyun Joo if his memory of the articles that had been released last year were correct. The news that she was a poor girl who'd been given help from Jeguk Group had circulated like wildfire.

_Perhaps for once you'll be all the more dangerous if you are on a scholarship. _

He bowed his head respectfully as she neared him. "I was just playing with my new friend, Teacher," he replied, spinning the girl in question around and tugging her closer so that he could sling his arm over her shoulder.

"Interesting, because I was under the impression that you were supposed to meet the Chairwoman regarding your suspension this morning, and failed to show up. I also know that Tae Yeon-yang is supposed to be in home room."

The teacher looked him straight in the eyes when he spoke, and he felt a glimmer of respect for her. This was someone who had gone in and out of their world, and survived. Held her head high even when she knew the students thought nothing of her. Stayed with her job even when Young Do knew that she'd shed tears in her office when the news of Kim Won's engagement broke.

Then he processed what she'd actually said.

_Tae Yeon, _he mused. _A first name's at least half of your identity. Yet a last name's all of it in this world. So what's yours transfer student?_

Tae Yeon, a name to the face that Young Do was going to guarantee he saw more of.

"Apologies Teacher, but due to said suspension I was unable to greet our Tae Yeon-yang properly, so I have had to make my friendly introductions now."

"You're friends?" she scoffed, and Young Do wondered if he should point out that that was very un-teacherlike of her. Although he doubted she'd care. She was currently eying his arm around Tae Yeon's shoulders in disbelief.

"Yes Teacher," he said and pulled Tae Yeon closer to his torso. Surprisingly, Tae Yeon hadn't said anything since the teacher's appearance; perhaps she would be a good little victim and play along. Even more surprisingly, she hadn't tensed as he'd wrapped his arm around her, not even when he pulled her tight against him.

_Are you always so careful around predators? Has my absence here made everyone go soft? _

"Tae Yeon?"

"Yes Teacher. Only, I have one question," Tae Yeon continued, and shifted to look up curiously at Young Do through her eyelashes. He didn't miss the glint of malice in her eyes. "Do you threaten and trip all of your friends oppa?" She asked, voice innocent. She'd managed to switch from sunbae to oppa in a matter of minutes, and yet the mocking behind the words was the same. Switching from honourables, switching from polite to angry to innocent. This girl switched masks as easily as Young Do donned his own.

Teacher Jeon inhaled sharply at this, and looked at Young Do.

_I've only just met you and I've already been wrong twice. I don't appreciate that Tae Yeon-ah. _

Young Do said nothing, so she moved her gaze. "What happened Tae Yeon?"

"I was on my way to homeroom when I bumped into him. I tried to apologize but he threatened me, and held me so that I would talk to him. I tried to leave eventually but he stuck out his leg and tripped me, then caught me before I fell when you arrived." Tae Yeon paused and hung her head, biting her lip as if contemplating whether or not to add anything on. "I shouldn't have bumped into him, but I was worried I would be late so I was rushing and not looking where I was going," she blurted out, lying so smoothly that Young Do blinked.

"Don't worry though Teacher," Tae Yeon added. "Now that I think properly, our senses of humor are really similar, so I think we'll be good friends in the future," she said, smiling up at him and pinching his cheek.

Young Do stared at her in disbelief. The last time he'd seen someone act so normally and lie so easily, unafraid of his presence had been Tan. Yet this girl held a fire that Tan didn't possess. He'd always been tame, even more so when he'd met Eun Sang.

"Choi Young Do, consider this your final warning," Teacher Jeon said, pinching the bridge of your nose. "You are not to trip or threaten any more students or I'm sure the Chairwoman will call your father again. You're to come with me immediately."

At the mention of his father, Young Do's words returned to him, the bruise on his face burning hot like a brand. "Did the Chairwoman send you to fetch me?" he asked, feigning hurt. "Aish, I thought I was close enough to her heart for her to come to me personally."

_You came to me and became a flower_, Young Do recalled.

Tae Yeon was still under his arm, and if anything she had settled further into him.

_Yet you're more like a bee, aren't you? _

"The Chairwoman predicted that you wouldn't show up to your disciplinary meeting, so instructed me to take you to my office instead in order for you to take the test you missed due to your suspension."

He felt Tae Yeon's shoulders stiffen from where his arm was still around her. He wanted to question it, but instead focused on the conversation at hand. There would be time to question her to his heart's content later. "A test on the first day back, the Chairwoman must really have a crush on me."

Tae Yeon snorted at this, quiet enough that only Young Do could hear her. Her shoulders relaxed again.

"Maybe instead of tripping new students you should have been studying to avoid ranking 98th again," Teacher Jeon said, raising an eyebrow.

The temptation of where exactly _she _ranked, where all of the students knew she stood was on the tip of his tongue. Yet he was on thin ice already, just coming back from his suspension and he didn't want to fall through into his father's freezing waters. Especially not if he was planning on making these sorts of conversations with Tae Yeon on a regular basis, so he instead exercised some of his incredible self-restraint and controlled himself.

"98th?" Tae Yeon asked incredulously, and he looked down at her just in time to see her nod. "Well done Young Do-ah. From our conversation I'd have guessed you'd rank 100th. Or were only 98 people present at that time?"

Young Do glared at her, and wondered just how far his self-restraint would reach. This girl was already testing it, and it was their first of what Young Do would ensure were many encounters. The way she said his name with such familiarity aggravated him. It had progressed from _sunbae _to _oppa _to _Young Do-ah _in no time at all, and Young Do recalled how she'd sworn in a different language earlier, and if she was a foreigner to the country as well as to the school. Or if she simply had no fear at all, or wasn't aware of who he was.

No one called him that, even if it was just for show in front of a teacher.

"Surprisingly no," Teacher Jeon said and Young Do contemplated walking in the complete opposite direction just to get her into trouble. He was willing to bet that her position with the Chairwoman was just as precarious as his with his father's. "Come," she said and Young DO reluctantly slid his arm off to Tae Yeon's shoulders.

Tae Yeon grinned widely at him and held up a fist. "Oppa fighting!"

So they were back to oppa. Young Do snorted.

"I'll be sure to instruct your home room teacher that the reason for your lateness was Choi Young Do, and ensure that you won't face any penalties Tae Yeon-yang."

Young Do's expression turned incredulous as Tae Yeon's satisfied grin grew wider.

"Thank you Teacher," she said with a bow before turning around and continuing to class.

_What are you?_

* * *

Young Do sees her again at lunch. After his test he'd been pulled out of class to have a disciplinary meeting with the Chairwoman and to write a letter of 'self reflection' he'd started off writing about how beautiful he was when he looked in the mirror, but the Chairwoman had been reading over his shoulder and tossed it into the bin.

_How rude. _

He'd missed break and complained that his hand was beginning to hurt after all this writing, and asked if Jeguk High didn't have enough money to hire someone to do it for me.

He was treading a dangerous line, and he knew it. If anyone knew how to demonstrate a balancing act, it was him.

The Chairwoman had massaged her temples and replied that she doubted he'd done all that much work on his test anyway.

He would pay good money to see her expression when the rankings came out.

As Young Do had sat with the paper in front of him, he'd made the same decision he'd had to made all throughout his life: to do well or not. He usually weighed out the advantages each, and the possibility of angering his father by failing was an advantage that outweighed any other. Only today he saw Tae Yeon's smirk in his minds eye, the way his newest subject's eyes had light up when she'd heard _98__th_, and made a different choice.

When he sees her now, she's smiling instead and sitting diagonally across from Cha Eun Sang on the end of a table. A couple of girls around them are shooting them dirty looks but neither of them pay them any attention. On another day, the girls might have actually approached them, but Tan's looming presence from wherever he is probably wards them off.

_Figures that my new playmate would befriend my old one. _

He grabs a tray and loads it up with food, by the time he reaches the table Kim Tan is seated next to Eun Sang and Bo Na and Chan Young are seated together besides Tae Yeon.

Only one place left.

_The gods are really smiling upon me today. _

He slides into the space opposite Tae Yeon. Part of him misses his old table, with the legendary _social welfare seat_. No one ever sits there now, and it remains an empty skeleton, reminding him of the old days. He wonders where his old minions were, who used to flank him wherever he went. They'd dismissed themselves from duty upon realizing that Tan had replaced them and there was no need for them.

Maybe they'd transferred.

Tae Yeon looks up and notices him, pulling a face that's incredibly immature in contrast to how manipulative she'd acted earlier. He rests his cheek on his hand, elbow on the table and is once again reminded of a similar situation with another transfer student. One who is now seated next to him and dating his newfound _friend. _

They're both still testing the word out, and wondering if this time it will really take or once again dissolve into war.

Tae Yeon eyes his elbow distastefully, and Young Do tacks it onto her mental file. He wonders if she'll reprimand him for supposed bad manners, but she instead placates herself by placing a spoonful of her lunch in her mouth and pointedly looks away.

He continues to watch her for a couple of beats, to see if she will writhe underneath this stare – however she denies him the satisfaction.

_Let's see what will make our Tae Yeon squirm. _

"Our new transfer student is so pretty when she tries to ignore me," he announces and everyone else on the table is pulled out of their love struck, self absorbed, conversations for long enough to look at him and notice his presence. Young Do wonders how it took them such a remarkable amount of time to realize he's there, after all he's incredibly handsome and invests a lot of money into his cologne.

"You're back," Bo Na states and Young Do quirks a brow at her. He'd forgotten how much like a younger girl she could sound.

"Obviously. Lee Bo Na, remind me to call you if I'm ever in need of a private detective."

Chan Young looks prepared to snap at him, and Young Do braces himself for the welcome argument, yet Kim Tan interrupts first.

"Where have you been all day?"

"I had a test to do, and then I had to write a letter of reflection about my suspension, when here I thought the Chairwoman just wanted an incredibly detailed description of my actual reflection," he wrings his wrist. "Ah, so painful."

He looks at Tae Yeon whose still refusing to look at him, but rolls her eyes nonetheless.

_It's so cute when they play hard to get. _

Young Do sticks his hand straight in front of her face so that she can't ignore it, and she blinks at it. He watches her pupils dilate and then refocus, and then her eyes flicker to his face. "Massage it for me Tae Yeon?"

Tae Yeon pushes it away with her chopsticks, and he can tell that she's barely resisting the urge to wipe them on his blazer. "No thanks."

"That's it? Just no thanks? What happened to you calling me oppa? It was so cute," Tae Yeon remains disinterested, so Young Do steps it up a notch. "I need to think of a nickname for you too, what about _jagiya_?"

Young Do watches as her eyes harden, and he puts this on the top of the list of things he's observed about her so far. It's important to note her reactions to what he says, as a future reference when he wants to invoke something in her.

"Pay someone else to massage it for you, or live in pain," Tae Yeon says, placing a slice of meat on her spoonful of rice. "I doubt it's that important," she says, completely disregarding his second comment and giving him the reaction he expected from her eyes, and it grates on his nerves.

_Why do I want to see you angry again so much?_

He still files it under her possible sore points.

"I'll have you know its used for lots of strenuous activities," he replies suggestively, with a slight twitch of his eyebrows and Eun Sang smacks him in the arm at the same time Bo Na shouts shrilly, "Yah, Choi Young Do!"

Tae Yeon on the other hand is oddly unfazed, and pointedly looks him in the eye, before her gaze roves downwards. "I doubt it's that strenuous."

Young Do finds himself enjoying the attention, even if it's coming from someone bold enough to look him in the eye, and then blatantly look at his body. He's used to that sort of treatment from his father's women, and other girls deluded enough to think he's interested; never from someone his age.

"You two know each other?" Chan Young finally inquires, and Young Do is perfectly aware that the question is plaguing all of their minds. He's known them long enough to be able to read them easily.

"We're lovers," Young Do pronounces and he takes joy at how Bo Na's eyes look like they're going to bug out of her head. They may all be _friends _for now, but Young Do's never mastered the habit of keeping friends – although he'll admit having people to actually converse with during lunch is quite convenient.

"You wish," Tae Yeon snorts, and somehow it doesn't sound entirely un-ladylike. "I have higher standards than boys who have to trip girls in order to get their attention," Tae Yeon says and Eun Sang sits bolt upright suddenly, as if struck with an epiphany.

"Is he the reason you were late to homeroom today?"

"Of course he was," Tan says plainly. "She's the new transfer student, what did you expect?" He says, ruffling Eun Sang's hair. "She's taken the spot from you."

Him and Tan exchange a look. Their friendship is still in its early stages, and both of them are still testing its strength; mentions of the past are usually a particular strain.

"Young Do, if you mistreat her," Eun Sang starts threateningly and he takes the finger she's waving at him and lowers it slowly, eyes locked with Tan as he does so. Eun Sang is another major strain.

"What? I think she's far more capable at defending herself than you are if the way she got me into trouble this morning is any proof," the self-satisfied look on Tae Yeon's face has returned and Young Do weighs out how much it would take to wipe it off, what measures he'd have to take. "She even put blame on me to wrestle herself out of a late penalty."

Tae Yeon shrugs at everyone else's inquisitive stares.

"Besides," Chan Young points out, "Isn't she _your _hero Eun Sang?"

Young Do can see Tan's jaw tense.

"What did I miss?" Young Do asks. He'd thought that Jeguk would be boring in his absence, and yet they'd obtained a new transfer student who'd managed to stand up to him as well as irk Tan. Here he thought that he was the only one who could accomplish that.

Tae Yeon continues to eat her lunch as if he is not talking about her, and Young Do wonders where's she from, to master that sort of indifference.

_You might just do well here. _

"Kang Tae Yeon stood up to some girls pestering Eun Sang," Bo Na clarifies when no one speaks, having long ago declared herself the announcer to all the drama that took place.

For once Young Do's grateful for her ability to gossip.

"Ah, so that's how you got the golden ticket into the Care Bear Brunch," Young DO remarks, and Bo Na somehow manages to kick him under the table. He catches her foot in between his legs, and tilts his head at her as she glowers at him. He tucks his chair in as he releases it. "Play nice Bo Na, you're going to scare away my new play-mate."

He notices that the play-mate in question is once again not paying attention to him, and is instead talking to Eun Sang about something or other. He stomps on her foot and leaned back in his chair, incredibly satisfied as Tae Yeon hisses loudly at him.

_Looks like I might just find out what our new transfer student wanted to say to me this morning before we were interrupted. _

And then Jo Myung Soo manifests before his very eyes and interrupts them once more. He's running across the vast expanse of the cafeteria squealing "Tae Yeonie" and then he's wrapping his arms firmly around the girl in question; who sort of looks like she's going to choke.

Young Do files this away as well, just in case he wants to replicate the comically large widening of her eyes, although he doubts he'll pull it off as well as Myung Soo.

"Myung Soo," Tae Yeon says when she's swallowed and his arms are still wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Myung Soo finally releases her, and by now they've attracted the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Even Tan manages to look slightly bemused whilst Eun Sang looks genuinely worried that Myung Soo might have actually strangled her. Everyone in the cafeteria is staring at her now, and Young Do notes that the people littered around them are whispering – most probably about Tae Yeon.

He also knows that if he can hear them, Tae Yeon can hear them – yet she remains to look completely unfazed. Young Do wonders what it will take to finally shatter her mask.

However, her indifference might of course be down to the fact she's currently massaging her shoulders, her face flushed.

_You look all the more satisfying when you're flustered. I wonder how else I can get you to look like that. Perhaps satisfying in other ways. _

Young Do wonders where that thought came from, and files that away as well.

Tae Yeon takes a couple of deep breaths as Myung Soo stands at the head of the table and pouts. "I thought I told you to call me oppa."

"I can't really do that if I'm dead," Tae Yeon says and everyone on the table laughs, Young Do continues to observe her curiously. Indifferent, respectful, polite, and endearing.

_Which one's the real you?_

"I know you rejected to help me, but I'm not the type to hold grudges," Tan snorts at Young Do's comment. "So do you want me to massage it for you?" Tae Yeon immediately drops her hands on the table and he laughs at her.

"Oppa!" Myung Soo exclaims, having clearly been too caught up in attempted murder to notice him, and Young Do remembers exactly how quiet his week of absence had been. With no constant gossip present as background music, no annoying loved up gushing over each other from Bo Na and Chan Young, and no Jo Myung Soo. "You're back!" Myung Soo exclaims, and then he's wrapping his arms around Young Do's torso and Young Do's breath escapes his lungs in a _whoof_.

_When did Jo Myung Soo get so heavy? _

Young Do voices this and actually manages to wrangle a laugh from Tan's laugh, and a smile from Tae Yeon, whose grin widens even more when Myung Soo whacks him upside the head. Young Do pretends like it hurt so as not to offend him further.

"Oppa! How could you say something like that? Why don't you love me like I love you?" Myung Soo says, face aghast and Young Do stares back at him blankly. Myung Soo continues to pout, and everyone else seems to have lost interest in Myung Soo's antics; yet the people on their table remain entertained, and Young Do watches as Tae Yeon neatly straightens up her chopsticks and spoon in the middle of her plate. "I even protested school when they suspended you, you know!"

Young Do arches an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes!" Myung Soo nods vigorously, and Young Do thinks there will never be a day he'll have to add in mental exclamation marks after Myung Soo's words.

"Then how come you didn't know he was coming back today?" Tan questions, and Myung Soo shoots him a death glare that feels like a threat from a toddler.

"We came back on the same day oppa, it's a sign that we're meant to be together," Myung Soo continues, clasping his hands together over his heart and batting his eyelashes.

"Wah Myung Soo, you're making me swoon," Eun Sang says through her laughter and Kim Tan snakes his arms around her shoulders to pull her closer. Young Do scoffs at this under his breath, something that Tae Yeon doesn't miss. He wiggles his eyebrows at her and she sticks her tongue out – looking almost as young as Myung Soo.

"But you came back on Friday," Chan Young points out, and Myung Soo hushes him loudly.

"Is that true?" Young Do asks, mock hurt and Myung Soo scratches the back of his neck.

"I wouldn't have, but there was the test on Friday and my mother would have murdered me if I didn't take it. Plus, my dad's a good lawyer so she could probably get away with it too!" Myung Soo says earnestly.

His gaze then switches to Tae Yeon as he winks. "Seungri Law Firm, a guaranteed victory every time."

Tae Yeon laughs softly and Myung Soo looks pleased with himself.

"Sit down Myung Soo, just looking at you is making me tired," Bo Na comments from where she's snuggled into Chan Young's side and Young Do wonders how he's been labored with all of these couples.

Myung Soo nods, and moves to sit on Young Do's lap. Young Do's a little upset that Tae Yeon has finished eating because he's sure that she would definitely have choked, and then he'd have the pleasure of looking at her flustered face again. He wondered what kind of circumstances he'd have to arrange in order to see it again. To make her embarrassed, to make her shy away. To make her snap at him like she had this morning. To make her acting skills falter.

_I could have fun with you, Kang Tae Yeon_.

Young Do remembers her last name, in order for him to look her up later.

Tae Yeon is looking at him skeptically, and the ease in which she's looking at him means that he can decipher the message in her eyes. "I'm not scared of you," they say and Young Do takes this into account. He'll have enough soon to write a biography about her. Good. Young Do needs someone new to argue with now that Tan and him have come to their truce.

He's thankful that he's no longer receiving cuts and bruises from two different people, and yet his life now seems to be lacking something. He doesn't even have Yoo Rachel to preoccupy him anymore with her harsh words and glares when he does something inconsequential like mess up her hair. Perhaps Tae Yeon can fill that gap, not that she has much of a choice. She can more than easily be tripped into it.

Young Do scoots back his chair to make more room for Myung Soo, and Myung Soo shifts so that he can rest on Young Do's knees more comfortably. Tae Yeon is still looking incredulously at him; whereas the rest of them seem so unimpressed that Young Do wonders if Tan has spread his indifference like a virus.

"You betrayed me so easily Myung Soo," Young Do says as Myung Soo swivels to face the rest of the table. "I'm hurt." He grasps at his chest for effect and watches as Myung Soo's pout grows even more pronounced.

"I had to study!" Myung Soo says defensively. "We can't all jump from 100th place to 50th," Myung Soo says pointedly to Kim Tan. "Or 98th to in the top 40," and this is emphasized with a sharp jab to Young Do's chest.

Tae Yeon looks mildly impressed, whereas Eun Sang, Bo Na and Chan Young scoff.

_Jealousy will get you nowhere. _

"So you think you did better than 100th place?" Bo Na asks and Myung Soo laughs loudly.

"No way."

"Then why are you so happy?" Tan asks bemusedly and Myung Soo winks.

"Because I got to study with Tae Yeonie here."

Myung Soo looks absolutely besotted and Young Do wonders if she won't become Myung Soo's next self-proclaimed great love. Tae Yeon's wry smile makes it look like she wouldn't exactly be willing.

"That test was hard though, don't you guys think?"

Eun Sang nods in agreement with him. "I thought it was, I think I did a lot worse than last time."

"If it was a harder test, than everyone will do worse," Tan reassures her, squeezing her arm and Young Do thinks he might vomit. Tae Yeon and Myung Soo's expressions show that they share this sentiment.

He's having fun, going through his usual ritual. Observing, taking notes, storing them in the appropriate place in his brain. Tae Yeon is his new specimen, and just like all his other subjects he has to scrutinize her; her appearance, her weaknesses, what it takes to get certain reactions out of her. Everything about her has to be in his head, to the point where he gets bored with her and moves onto someone else.

_For now, you're still a mystery. I bet Cha Eun Sang will ask me to leave you alone, but I haven't decided what kind of game I want to play yet._

"It wasn't that bad," Chan Young says and Myung Soo scoffs loudly. Young Do feels the feeling beginning to fade from his leg, and he shifts so that Myung Soo is on his other one and Myung Soo doesn't even blink.

"Easy for you to say," Myung Soo says, jabbing his finger at Chan Young and almost poking Eun Sang's eye out. "You're ranked number 1, and Rachel isn't even here to give you competition."

Bo Na snorts at this, and leans in to Chan Young and flutters her eyelashes. "As if anybody could compete with my Chan Young."

Young Do snorts straight back, and receives a world famous Bo Na glare that's all bark and no bite. "I think I'm going to be sick from all this cuteness. Do you think if I vomit publicly in the cafeteria I'll get suspended again?"

Bo Na squints at him, and he imitates her.

"Are you trying to aim for two in a row?" Chan Young asks, as if the idea is preposterous to him. Young Do thinks it just might be, Chan Young is too angelic for his own good. He'd considered making Chan Young one of his playmates in the beginning, then realized he was far too boring to make good entertainment.

"Is this concern for me?" Young Do questions, and looks at Tae Yeon. "My first day back and Chan Young is already trying to get me to steal him from Bo Na. can you believe this?"

"I believe that Chan Young has higher standards than you," she says and the table erupts into laughter whilst he whistles.

"Cold Tae Yeon_ie_," Young Do remarks, pitching his voice higher to match Myung Soo's. "Are you jealous?"

Tae Yeon scrunches her nose up at him.

"Leave her alone," Eun Sang repeats and he smiles winningly at her.

_Don't you know Eun Sang, this is me playing nice. Would you rather I turn her into my new Moon Joon Young? _

"Is our Eun Sang upset she missed her chance with me?" He asks and Eun Sang shoves him so that Myung Soo almost falls of his lap.

Tan arches an eyebrow and he dismisses it.

"What did you get suspended for anyway?" Chan Young asks and Young Do feels his jaw clench.

Tae Yeon tilts her head to the side, and he recognizes the look in her eyes. It's the one he sees whenever he catches himself in the mirror in one of his father's business meetings. She's trying to analyze him, get a read. Attempting to decipher some of the mystery that he wraps around himself like a cloak. Just as he's been doing to her all this time.

He smiles at her, and judging by the slight widening of her eyes she finds it intimidating.

_Good_. _You can stay that way until I decide if you'll be 'friend' or foe. _

"For getting into an argument with a nosy transfer student that framed me to get out of a late penalty," Young Do says and Tae Yeon's lips twitch upwards. He can see Tan staring at him from his side, and Eun Sang has gone decidedly quiet.

Young Do's so used to telling half-truths that it comes naturally. He did get into a fight; only not with a transfer student. With someone who holds far much power. Him and Kim Tan had engaged in yet another legendary fight, and battled it out wholly – with only Eun Sang as witness. There had been bruises all down his back, and they'd exchanged harsh words. Even tears at some point, if you looked _really _closely.

Young Do admitted to instigating the fight, and Tan had argued against expulsion for him. Young Do had instead been suspended, and him and Tan had agreed to a truce.

_And so far it's proven to be a good decision. _

"Are you telling me that I could've gotten you suspended again today?" Tae Yeon asks dryly. "I'll be sure not to pass up on another opportunity again."

"Wow, our Tae Yeon really is bold, makes me wonder what I can do to take that away."

"We have two years of school left, you shouldn't be getting into fights anymore," Eun Sang says under her breath, yet Young Do can hear her. He can always hear her. In class, in the hallways. What she says to Tan, as they whisper to each other. His Eun Sang radar had been turned on a year ago, and he has no idea how to switch it off.

He hates it.

"I like getting into fights," he counters.

"So much that you went looking for another one in your week off," Tae Yeon mutters under her breath and Young Do's already cold blood freezes further.

Apparently she's decided that her search of him had yielded something, assumed that he's the type to pick fights. Which he undoubtedly is, yet she hasn't searched far _enough_, he hasn't let her. Not far enough to know that that is a sore topic for him, and that just because he won't get physical with a girl doesn't mean he won't pick a fight with her too.

"What?" he asks, and his voice is cold. Even the Scooby Doo Gang have managed to finally shut up and tense.

Tae Yeon looks up at him, and must manage to read him again because she says nothing and Young Do hates her for saying it, and hates her for thinking that she can understand him. He's been too patient with her, too lenient.

_No one frames me, and you'll be kneeling to me before I let you think I'm your 'friend'. _

"And in my week off they managed to sneak you in, Tae Yeon-ah," Young Do says. He rolls the word around on his tongue, and he drops the niceties that he's been donning. He shifts again abruptly and Myung Soo falls off his lap for sure this time, and scrambles to his feet. Young Do leans in close to her. "What are you?"

Tae Yeon flinches in a way that's pleasing to him, yet doesn't move backwards. Chan Young, Bo Na and Eun Sang look about ready to jump in. it was better when he didn't have to worry about Bo Na's interference. Then she had to go and get herself involved with that Yoon Chan Young and grew concerned about people other than herself.

_How weak._

"Excuse me?" Tae Yeon asks and her voice has dropped in temperature too. He's attracted the audience of his schoolmates again, orchestrating their attention with a wave of his arm. And it's clear now, that they had missed him, had waited for him; all waiting with baited breath for his arrival when he would talk to this new transfer student. Put her through the interrogation.

"Are you deaf?" Young Do asks. "I said what are you? Surely I'm not the first one to have asked? Yah, Lee Bo Na, just a year ago weren't you bullying Kang Ye Sol for having a bar mistress as a mother? And now you don't even interview the new student?"

Bo Na looks away, and he remembers how raw Bo Na's face had been, what had finally driven the stake between her and Chan Young. It's something that Bo Na shouldn't have left exposed if she wanted to survive. Chan Young is glaring at him but he still looks too much like an oversized teddy bear for Young Do to take him seriously.

"Myung Soo, even you haven't asked?" Young Do says, and Myung Soo won't look him in the eye. "Tan-ah, you said that she'd taken Eun Sang's place, to what extent is that true?"

"I don't appreciate being talked about as if I'm not here," Tae Yeon says and Young Do laughs at the bite in her words, and thinks she might just look a little bit scared as his chuckles continue to echoed throughout the cafeteria.

"Then answer me. What are you?" He pauses in between each word this time, allowing it to sink in. He remembers her swearing into her phone in a different language, wonders if he should bring it up, ask where she's come from. If she can't go back there, if she was Queen there. If she can't see that he's the King here and he doesn't have a lot of patience. Especially for people who question him and make assumptions. "You're a transfer student, but what type?"

"The type that's quickly growing tired of you."

Young Do claps, and Eun Sang flinches and shifts closer to Tan. He wonders if she's still scared of him, wonders if he wants her to be. If perhaps if she's so scared of him, she should've warned her new best friend about him before he returned.

"Again, so brave. But my patience's running out. I've entertained you so far, right? Now repay me by answering the question."

"No," Tae Yeon says, and she's crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair. Young Do's impressed by her defiance, no matter how stupid it is because he's not sure why he's suddenly so mad, or why she's eliciting the temper that he's been trying so very hard to keep under control since Eun Sang chose Tan.

"It wasn't a request."

"What he means," Myung Soo says quietly and Young Do feels like expressing his distaste with the fact Myung Soo thinks that he needs to be explained. "Is that there are two types of transfer students here. Those who are new money, so they transfer here; or those who are here on social welfare scholarships."

"So what are you?" He repeats and soon he would've asked it so many times that the words would have lost meaning.

Tae Yeon still remains silent so he takes it a step further. "Do you even know who you're sitting with right now? Has everyone grown too relaxed in my absence? Kim Tan, second son of Jeguk Group whose family owns this school. Lee Bo Na, who holds major shares in Mega Entertainment and might even overtake her cousins and run it some day. Even Yoon Chan Young has managed to escalate to the level of Vice President's son. Jo Myung Soo is the son of a respectable law firm," He points at everyone in turn, and then turns his finger on himself. "And I'm just the same, only more dangerous. Eun Sang here - "

"Is here on a scholarship," Eun Sang clarifies for herself, and he catches a glimpse of the same girl he tripped on the first day, before she'd become weak in her affection for Tan.

"So what are you? This is the last time I'm asking nicely."

"I'm a person who deserves respect," She says, scraping back her chair and she looks ready to leave.

"Are you new money?" Myung Soo asks, and Tae Yeon looks from him to Young Do slowly, and Young Do's tongue darts out to wet his lips, and he's anticipating her answer.

"No."

Young Do's face cracks into a smile. "So you're on a scholarship?"

Tae Yeon doesn't dignify him with an answer.

"Then why are you here? Whose paying for you? Who've you managed to impress?" He finds his tone of voice turning suggestive without intending for it to be, and her expression turns rock hard.

"Excuse me?" He can see her temper rising, and he likes it a lot. Even more than when she was sticking out her tongue playfully at him, when he felt like perhaps he could relax around her. Even more than when he watched her trick their teacher out of giving her a late penalty.

_I want to see you lose it, I've decided. And it's only your first day. _

"It's a bit strange, transferring during the second week into the year, no? Who are you hiding from? Whose hiding you?"

"Choi Young Do, enough," Tan says finally, and Young Do knows he's only speaking up because Eun Sang's nails are digging into his forearm.

"Just as strange as getting suspended the second week into the year, no? What are _you _hiding from Choi Young Do?" Tae Yeon asks, and she's leaned forwards on her chair and he can feel her breath pool across his face and he feels himself snap. Remembers the implication of his fight, and the way she's looking like she has him figured out, like she's won – and he hates it. Despite himself, an image of his father flashes forwards in his mind and he puts his spoon down sharply on the table, and the clang rings through the room.

"I was hiding from the group of idiots that insist on spending time with me when I'm at school," Young Do says, rising and he towers over her, and she looks so small he wonders how he could ever even contemplate her being a threat. "Don't get up, I'll leave. I have better things to do than hang out with his bunch anyway."

"Are we the idiots when you're the one who used to rank 98th?" Bo Na calls after him incredulously. Young Do ignores this, and slips out of the cafeteria, fully aware of all eyes on him.

Fully aware of how they'd all switch to Tae Yeon the moment he left.

_You might have just crossed me, Kang Tae Yeon. Let's see how long it takes before you regret making assumptions about me. _


	3. bend or break

_It couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes since he'd left the cafeteria when Young Do hears footsteps behind him in the corridor. He's willing to bet that it's Tan, following him out. They have something of a bad habit of following the other one, even when they'd been lunging for each other's throats and Young Do'd been looming Tan's mother over his head like bait. Young Do turns around and is prepared to reprimand Tan for still wearing the shoes with those ridiculous heels on them that make the clacking noises but standing there instead is Kang Tae Yeon. _

"_We got off to the wrong start," she says, and Young Do wants to say that that much is obvious, that having the right start with him involves kneeling and pledging your allegiance to him – because even if him and Tan are friends now he's still insecure on their shared throne. Tae Yeon continues without offering him the chance to say anything instead. "I already offended Kim Tan on our first meeting, it wasn't my intention to offend you as well. Although in my defense you did trip me," she pauses then and for a fraction of a second Young Do thinks she has the ridiculous notion that he'll apologize, but she continues. "If we continue to hang out with the same people it will be uncomfortable." _

_Young Do goes to speak, to tell her that she can keep them because he's learnt to shed friends like snakes shed their skin, and although him and Tan have a long history he's always been good at letting go. But then Tae Yeon is holding her hand up to halt him and her nerve is unbelievable. "I'm not going to back down from you, and I think that's what you want. I'm not scared of you Choi Young Do, no matter who you are." _

_Young Do remembers he'd failed to introduce himself properly, to tell her who he was, who his father was – surely she'd seen the news but she's reaching into her bag and tossing something at him. His reflexes are good and he manages to catch the box. It's weighty in his hands, and before he can take a guess what it is she's telling him. _

You seem determined to ruin my fun, spoiling my guesses and coming here all noble and apologetic. Don't you know that those who say sorry are boring?

"_Put it on the bruise, and it will heal faster with less pain." _

"_What?" _

_She stares at his face, and her eyes are focused on his cheekbone, where the still healing bruise is flowering. His father had given it to him on the first day of his suspension; exactly a week ago. Young Do hadn't thought that anybody had noticed, and yet her comment at the table made so much more sense now. _

"_They might not have noticed, but I did. My best friend's a boy, and an idiot too. Sort of like you," Tae Yeon purses her lips. "I know what a face looks like after it's been punched, so don't try and fool me. I have no doubt you're a good liar, but I'm equally as stubborn as you are proud." _

_Then she's gesturing to the box he's now holding in his hands and Young Do doesn't think even Rachel's spoken to him like that before. "Use it, throw it away, up to you. Just know that I'm not afraid, and that if you want to hide the fact you're getting into fights from everyone else you should probably keep it." _

_Young Do can't find the words to call after her, even as she leaves. He has an above average vocabulary, filled with words of spite and malice, of easing and pleasing and persuading, yet none of them fit this situation. He doesn't know what to say, how to express how he feels about her noticing the bruise. How to say that he's wanted attention from someone for so long without having to give it in return that now that he finally has it for a fraction of a moment as she glares at him, he doesn't know what to do with it. _

_Young Do shouldn't have her attention, not like this. He was rude to her, and harsh. Embarrassed her in front of everyone. He'd picked a fight with her, and she'd framed him. And yet this proved who she was, soft – thinking that she understood him. _

Walk carefully Kang Tae Yeon, you're treading a dangerous line. I haven't decided what to do with you yet, so let's see where you fall.

* * *

Tae Yeon considers asking Eun Sang to switch lockers with her. She'd somehow managed to draw the short straw and was given the locker next to _ray of sunshine _Kim Tan. And although she could usually handle the stares of other students with an incredible endurance, Tan's unimpressed glances at her were starting to grate mercilessly on her nerves. Surely Eun Sang would have more use for a locker next to her boyfriend, and maybe as thanks for the action he'll even honor her with a look other than blatant distaste.

So far only Eun Sang and Young Do seem to be able to elicit any sort of emotion from him whatsoever – with the occasional chuckle from Myung Soo – and if Tae Yeon wasn't so used to extreme indifference from the people that surrounded her; she'd find it a little odd.

The day after Young Do's reappearance Tan actually attempts to make conversation, and Tae Yeon finds herself wishing that he hadn't.

"Upsetting Young Do isn't a wise thing to do," he advises and Tae Yeon closes her locker as he's still reaching into his, and shrugs.

"And people who've shown no other interest in me other than to threaten me attempting to tell me what to do isn't a wise thing to do either. Especially since I don't take it well," she replies because she's had it up to her limits with entitled sons of rich families, and surprisingly Tan's face actually contorts into a wry smile.

_This might be the closest to friendship we ever get, Kim Tan. Me insulting you and you smiling. That's both depressing and rather comforting – I'm not sure I have the strength in me to make small talk with you everyday. _

_Although I've had worse relationships. _

"Fair enough," Tan says, and then his locker is closed too and Tae Yeon can spot Eun Sang waiting for the two of them in the distance. She hangs back, because even though Tan is as boring to read as watching paint dry, she can tell that he wants to say something else to her so she waits.

It gives her time to calm the anger that had arose at the remembrance of Young Do. No one had managed to make her that pissed in a long time.

No one had managed to make her that forgiving in a long time either.

No one had managed to make her feel like purposefully manipulating someone to get them in trouble practically ever.

"I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing," and somehow Tan must actually be quite clever because he's managed to read her like a book. Tae Yeon has no idea what this is either. She knew that Jeguk High was going to be a mind-twist but she didn't know it would descend into conflicting feelings this quickly. "But Young Do takes things seriously – as someone who's been playing with him since middle school I would know," Tan adds, and goes to turn but stops abruptly. "Remember that I know who you are Kang Tae Yeon, and I am advising you to be careful."

"If you know who I am Kim Tan," Tae Yeon says in the same way he'd said her name, "_You_ should remember that I have no reason to worry. I've played games all my life, with competitors with less eyebrows than Young Do, but just as temperamental – at least from what I've seen. I think I can handle a spoilt high school bully," Tae Yeon replies, and begins to walk. Tan follows her, and as they walk side by side he absolutely dwarves her and she hates it; hates the smugness radiating off of him as he notices the fact.

"Don't be so quick to judge him. He may have underestimated your stubbornness yesterday - " _Such a kiss-up Tan. _" – but you shouldn't make the same mistake and underestimate him. Nevertheless, play well with him, Tae Yeon-ah. He needs someone interesting to keep him occupied," he says.

"And it appears there's been a misunderstanding, because I definitely believe that if anyone can handle him other than me, it's you."

Tae Yeon deems this the strangest compliment she's received, and it matches the fact that Tan is one of the strangest chaebol sons she's had the displeasure of meeting. Eun Sang is there and they start acting friendly for her benefit; but Tae Yeon doesn't miss the way Tan shoots her a glance and actually _grins at her_.

Tae Yeon shudders. Perhaps the reason Tan always looks so impassive is because his smile is so cringe worthy.

Bo Na and Chan Young join the three of them soon after; and Tae Yeon wonders (not for the first time) if everyone in Jeguk High is in a relationship.

Or whether she's somehow managed to befriend he only couples. Bo Na is bouncier than usual, and clinging on to Chan Young in typical Bo Na fashion; hearts in her eyes and looking at him adoringly.

Tae Yeon finds it amusing that she's witnessed such an adoring expression change to deadly glares at anyone who offends her.

"Why are you so happy?" Tae Yeon questions and now Bo Na is beaming at her.

"The rankings come out today now that Young Do's taken his test, and I'm ready to celebrate my Chan Young coming first again," Bo Na exclaims and Chan Young laughs.

Tae Yeon finds herself wanting the kind of supportive, loving relationship that the two have. It's rather boring, in this world of bloodshed and stock shares, but it's nice. Stable.

She'd have hard luck finding that. That's not the norm. What's to be expected is a relationship like Tan and Eun Sang's. If she's ever to find a boyfriend in this world their relationship will be all uphill battles and knowing her – probably numerous fights. That's what lies in store for her, no matter how much she yearns for the simple relationship that Bo Na and Chan Young share.

At least with any luck she'll never find her relationship boring.

_I'd lose interest in a boy so quickly I'd probably ask myself why I wanted one in the first place. _

Just as Tae Yeon thinks she might absolutely drown in thoughts of couples, Myung Soo appears like a shining beacon – prepared to whisk her away from all of this love. Then she fully registers what she's seeing and can't help the scowl that appears on her features as her savior turns into a bearer of destruction.

For next to him, elbows linked with Myung Soo and being dragged along the hallway, in all his full height and arrogant demeanor is Choi Young Do.

Tae Yeon's quite surprised that Myung Soo is managing to make any headway with Young Do, because Young Do must be at least ten percent heavier than him, yet Young Do doesn't seem to mind and allows himself to be pulled to the group. His eyes lock with hers, and he shoots her a winning smile.

Despite her wanting to put yesterday's incidents in the past for the sake of having a relatively boring school year – she can tell that he won't be so quick to let go. Especially if she was correct in her assumptions of having hurt her pride.

It will be even more difficult considering how now he is smiling at her all she can see is how he'd bared her teeth at her yesterday and her scowl deepens briefly before she shoots him a smile back that is practically blinding.

_If you want to play friends, we can play friends. Just don't make me angry again or our games might turn deadly. _

Young Do seems appeased by this, and as they approach Tae Yeon finds herself anticipating what he'll say. She'd left him in the hallway after lunch, and to his credit he'd bypassed Tae Yeon's expectations and hadn't attempted to give the medicine back to her.

Maybe he didn't want to do it publicly.

She could still just about make out the bruise on his cheek that the rest of them had failed to detect, and she refused to focus on it as he drew nearer. When they'd returned to class, he was delighted to find out that she now sat next to him – something she'd put together after realizing who the empty seat was reserved for.

He'd spent the majority of the next two hours glancing over at her, then at her notes, then doodling idly on his paper. It had been a vicious cycle he'd repeated. Endlessly.

Tae Yeon had tried her best to ignore him, and found she couldn't. Instead she found herself glancing back, and looking at his doodles. He hadn't caught her, and when the bell rung to signal the end of the first lesson – Tae Yeon vowed not to spare him another look.

She'd persevered, and in the present blushed at the memory of how concentrated he'd looked as he carved angry lines into the page. Young Do's grin widened, and Tae Yeon wondered how she'd let her mask drop so easily, especially in front of a predator so large.

She carefully reconstructed it.

Looking at Young Do, his face was still contorted into that sadistic grin and her stomach twisted.

_I am not scared of you, you're just a tall boy who holds no importance to me. _

For some reason, Tae Yeon doubted her own words. She recalled what Tan had said about him wanting to play games with her, and found that she hadn't minded the idea all that much.

_You're not the only one used to having a playmate. Only I'm not on friendly terms with mine now. _

"Why are you so happy?" Bo Na demands suddenly, and at first Tae Yeon wonders if she'd forgotten to drop her fake smile. Then she realizes the question is directed towards Young Do. "You'd expect someone about to rank badly to look more morose," Bo Na adds, and the edge to her words makes it obvious she's still stung from Young Do's comments yesterday.

Young Do doesn't look fazed, and Tae Yeon thinks that she sees a glint of apology in his eyes.

_The light is tricking me. I know your type Young Do, and they do not apologise. _

"I just feel really lucky today," Young Do says, and he sniffs the air. "Something just feels different, don't you think Tae Yeon-ah?" Young Do says, and he brushes a piece of hair behind her ears and Tae Yeon recoils. She regrets not typing her hair up, especially when Young Do notices the way she flinches.

He undoubtedly tacks it onto her file in his head.

She prefers to write hers on post it notes.

_It's been a long time since someone's done that, since a boys' called me Tae Yeon-ah. It's also been too long since I've felt comfortable, made friends. I let my guard down; I won't make the same mistake again. _

The deed had been done however. He'd seen her weak, and Tae Yeon decided she had to gain advantage over him soon.

"That difference isn't that we've suddenly become close enough for you to do this," Tae Yeon says, and she pushes away the hand that is still cradling her cheek and catches a whiff of his cologne. Her hand nudges his wrist away, and she can see the bruised knuckles on her hand.

He notices her attention, and then his hand is retracted and shoved tensely into his blazer pocket.

"Are the results posted?" Myung Soo asks curiously, oblivious to her and Young Do. "Maybe I should pull a Tan and runaway with them before anyone can see where I placed," Myung Soo ponders and Tan thwacks him on the arm.

Tae Yeon laughs at this, and so does Eun Sang. Tan catches her eye but Tae Yeon doesn't care. The atmosphere between them seems to have changed, perhaps because Tae Yeon has deemed Young Do a bigger threat than her. Perhaps because what Tan meant when he said that he'd played games with Young Do for so long was that he was handing the baton over to her now. That she was to take his place, and that he respected that.

"They'll post them soon," Chan Young Says, with an air of indifference to rival Tan's. he is entirely at ease, the perfect picture of someone who only expects to do well.

_Yoon Chan Young, I never thought that you would be the arrogant type. _

Myung Soo's head whips around and they all wince at the whiplash as he rushes over to the notice board suddenly. Tae Yeon sees a member of staff walking away, and concludes that Chan Young's prediction was right.

Tae Yeon makes her way over there, and is uncomfortably aware of Young Do's eyes on her; and can tell that he's trying to analyze her for weaknesses to regain the upper hand that he lost yesterday. Only unlike the rest of the students who had gradually backed of as she'd stared at them, Young Do is unashamed in his efforts and doesn't back down.

"They're up!" Myung Soo shouts, and Young Do looks away.

_What are you, to make me feel uncomfortable? I don't do this. _

Young Do strides over to the notice board, and manages to cover the first five rows of results with his forearm as he leans against it.

"What are you doing?" Eun Sang asks as they reconvene around the notice board along with the rest of the year. They're all looking confused at Young Do, only the rest of them don't' seem too rushed to argue with him and simply stand back – as if worried he will suddenly lash out.

Tae Yeon wonders how likely this is.

"it's always so boring to see Chan Young on top all the time. I'm adding suspense," Young Do adds, and his grin turns feral. His lips stretch over his teeth and he's looking at Tae Yeon again. She matches his, baring her teeth and Young Do looks pleasantly surprised.

"Choi Young Do, move aside," Bo Na demands, and Young Do sighs. "Why do you need to look that high up anyway? Is your name going to be there?"

Young Do moves then, and dodges a storming Bo Na. her eyes trail the list and her hand flies to her mouth. "Chan Young! You're third!"

"What?" Chan Young asks, and although he no longer looks at ease, he doesn't look particularly worried either.

Young Do's leaning against the wall next to the notice board, and watching Bo Na as her eyes travel further up the list.

"Choi Young Do, did you cheat? How did you place second?"

"What?" Young Do demands, repeating Chan Young's question and Tae Yeon watches pleased as his eyes widen. "What do you mean second?"

"Second. Tae Yeon beat you," Bo Na says, and then Eun Sang is clapping and hugging Tae Yeon tightly.

"Congratulations!" Eun Sang sings into her ear, and Tae Yeon hesitantly wraps her arms around her torso.

_I'm not used to having friends that are girls. I'm not used to meeting people in this world who are so affectionate. _

"It's about time someone knocked Chan Young off his throne, he was resting too easy," Eun Sang continues, hitting him in the chest.

"Who do you think you're hitting Cha Eun Sang?" Bo Na asks, and Tae Yeon laughs along with Eun Sang..

Chan Young extends his hand to her. "Congratulations, I look forward to competing with you in the future."

"And I look forward to beating you."

They're all laughing, and then Tan and Eun Sang are looking for their names on the list. Tae Yeon spots Myung Soo's name in 100th place; although he doesn't look at all dejected. Instead, he's congratulating Young Do whose once again looking at her, as if she is a puzzle he is eager to solve.

"Oppa, you didn't actually cheat, right?" Myung Soo asks.

"Your oppa's smart Myung Soo, are you doubting me?" Young Do says, and Tae Yeon bares her teeth at him again.

_You're not as stupid as I thought, perhaps playing with you won't be that boring. If you think you're going to win, let these rankings be a warning. I've beaten you now, and I'm willing to beat you again._

* * *

Young Do continues to watch Tae Yeon when they go to homeroom. He rests his head on his hands and looks at her as she continues to write neatly into her notebook about something or other. Young Do attempts to make out what it says, yet her book is purposely slanted away from him so that he can't decipher it no matter how much he squints.

He'd expected her to tell him to stop, because he knows that she's caught him (mainly due to the fact he's made no efforts to hide it) and he'd caught her staring back at him once – but she refuses and so Young Do stares more intently.

_What will it take for me to break your stubbornness? _

When the bell rings signaling the end of form, the bubbling chatter in the room dims down and Tae Yeon places her notebook in her backpack. Young Do finally glimpses it, and even though it's brief it's enough to tell him that it isn't in hangul. She places it gingerly into the bag, and Young Do contemplates taking it without her noticing. What kind of things she writes in it that are important enough for her to hide them in a different language.

_Do you write your fantasies in them Tae Yeon-ah? Are any of them about me? _

Their Tuesdays start with English and Young Do finds that despite his sudden rise in the rankings, it hasn't filled him with the urge to do increasingly well and he grows tired of the class so rests his head on the desk as the teacher enters. The teacher places her belongings on the table and her eyes scan the classroom before landing on Young Do.

Young Do raises his eyebrows and thinks if he hadn't gelled his hair to an extreme height that morning that they might have disappeared beneath it. The teacher says nothing, and clears her throat.

"Today we will be looking at the book we'll spend the rest of the term reading," the woman announces in accented English. The words make sense in Young Do's mind, and the translation comes easily to him. She rests her hands on the stack of books on her desk and holds one up.

"_Much Ado About Nothing_," she reads and the words are choppy and uneven, hidden by her thick Korean accent.

_Supposedly the most prestigious school in Korea and they can't even afford to employ a native English speaker. _

"We will be reading this throughout the term and -," the teacher continues and Young Do finds himself losing interest rapidly until he has completely zoned out. He does what he does usually as the teacher drones on about various upcoming assignments; and scans the room like a tiger stalking his prey in the forest. Tan is one seat behind him and he has to swivel slightly in his chair in order to look at him.

Unsurprisingly, Tan is looking lovingly at Eun Sang whose trying her hardest to decipher their teacher's words and is taking notes like an obedient little student.

_When did you become so soft, Tan? When did I become tolerant enough to stand to look at you? _

_When will I grow tired of wondering how you ended up like this? _

A couple of seats to his right sit Bo Na and Chan Young, hands linked in between their seats and this too is unsurprising.

_When did I become tolerant enough to consider calling any of you my friends? _

Myung Soo continues with the trend, and is playing a game on his phone under the table. He isn't being at all that subtle about it from the way he is tapping aggressively on his screen. Young Do chuckles and pauses before turning to look at the final person worthy enough of his interest.

_You think you know me, so should we see how well I know you? What are you doing, transfer student? _

Probably taking notes like yesterday, Young Do deduces. And when he turns, he has to blink for a moment. Rather than listening intently to the teacher as she'd exhibited yesterday, Tae Yeon is writing something in a different notebook and the speed at which she's writing doesn't coincide with the teacher's rambling. Her hand moves to the margins and she doodles, suddenly looking straight at him.

She lifts an eyebrow and Young Do mirrors her. Then the teacher says something that catches her attention and she turns around.

_What kind of welfare student is blessed with enough knowledge to understand English this well, number one or not? How exactly did you get enough knowledge to beat me? _Young Do thinks wryly.

"You will all make presentations on this book for next week," the teacher announces, and the class is filled with groans. None louder than Myung Soo's – although it's unclear if his upset is due to the homework or due to having lost a life on whatever game is his current addiction. Young Do is all to aware of Myung Soo's gaming problem: whenever he gets inevitably stuck he begs Young Do to help him surpass a level and he's annoying enough to persist until Young Do eventually relents.

The teacher holds up a hand, and they all quiet. "You will do it in partners, and because I am being nice you can choose your own."

Young Do doesn't have to turn around to know that Eun Sang has finally returned Tan's look and that they are smiling softly at each other, and that Bo Na and Chan Young are probably doing something similar. That must be the only advantage to being in a relationship; you always have a partner for something. Then he realizes that all of Tae Yeon's friends are paired up, and that she has no one left.

_What an excellent opportunity. _

Then once again Myung Soo manifests before his eyes and is sitting on Tae Yeon's table. The teacher looks aghast.

"Tae Yeonie, be my partner?" Myung Soo begs and Tae Yeon looks at him, shocked by his sudden presence.

_Myung Soo your talent at annoying me is reaching ridiculous heights. _

"Do you know the book?"

Myung Soo shakes his head vigorously. "Of course not, but I ranked 100th again today, and you ranked 1st. take pity on me and help," he says and he's pouting again and Young Do can not believe that Tae Yeon is going to agree. He can pinpoint the exact moment she'd agreed, and it had been the moment Myung Soo first appeared. He'd watched the desperation and uneasiness in her eyes, and just before he could offer a questionable helping hand; Myung Soo had stolen the opportunity for him.

Young Do reclines further back in his seat, and just for fun glares at a couple of students who are loitering around, clearly also without partners. They all scram.

_Looks like I won't be doing this project after all._

* * *

Young Do finds her at the end of the day, depositing books into her locker. She'd managed to elude him entirely at lunch – Myung Soo said he'd spotted her talking on the phone outside; and for once she didn't have one of the Teletubby bunch loitering around.

_Good, I've grown tired of couples. Love made my father ferocious; yet it makes everyone else mind-numbingly boring. _

The hallway was mainly deserted, the few students that _were_ there parting immediately upon seeing him.

_At least everyone knows I'm still ferocious. _

He watched as her phone rang, and continued to walk towards her, hands drumming against his thighs as she looked at the caller ID distastefully and then dropped it into her bag.

He rested one hand atop her locker door and the other besides her; effectively caging her in. he leant down to breathe on her ear, "Boo."

She jolted up right, and Young Do was incredibly satisfied at the way goose bumps rose quickly along her neck.

"What?" She asked, whirling around. Once her eyes landed on him she rolled her eyes and returned to her original position – her back now resting against his front. He had to lean down in order to tuck her head under his chin.

"You ignoring me really hurts my feelings."

Tae Yeon scoffed and he pressed closer against her.

"I mean it. You don't look at me even though I've been so _nice_. I've spoken to you more on your first day than some of the students here who have known me their whole lives," he exhaled slowly as he paused, and he could feel her stiffen. "I even wanted you to be my English partner."

"Then perhaps I should get Myung Soo a gift for getting there first and being my partner instead," Tae Yeon replied, zipping up her bag and shuffling around the books inside of her locker so that they were arranged by height.

_I like to do mine by colour_.

"I could always switch with him. If you want a failing grade that badly, I've been told that I play dumb very convincingly."

"I don't doubt that in the slightest. But why would I want to partner with someone whose so convinced that their best friend will fail?"

Her words hit him like one of his father's slaps. Hard and cutting, stinging his cheek. Unexpected no matter how many times he's done it before.

The whispers of newly made rumours reach his ears, and he knows that the students are already gossiping, spreading the news of how Young Do doesn't believe in Myung Soo. About what a terrible friend he is.

_It's probably true, but still who are you to suggest it Kang Tae Yeon? _

Tae Yeon punctuates his thoughts with the clanging shut of her locker. Young Do refused to budge, and when she turned to leave her eyes dilated in shock at their proximity.

"He ranked 100th," Young Do states, and knew it didn't need any more explanation. Hates that he had to justify his statement at all.

_I don't care what you think. I only care about Myung Soo, and I don't appreciate you having people believe I don't value him. _

"Is that supposed to mean that he'll fail? That he's stupid?" She says, inhaling sharply. Her eyes flare when she speaks, and Young Do could tell that it was clearly a sensitive topic. Perhaps she'd been ranked 100th before, maybe she was number one now because she didn't want to be there.

Unfortunately for her, Young Do wasn't willing to ease up. Not when she'd touched his own sore point.

Young Do was fully aware that his friendships were questionable. Him and Tan's games were more than enough evidence of that. Even when they had been younger and as thick as thieves; they'd gotten into so many fights and squabbles that it was ridiculous. They'd patched up all of their spats by tormenting others weaker than them.

And then Tan had ditched him for the promise of America (Young Do usually ignores the fact that Tan wasn't presented with much of a choice) and the fact that Young Do had been the one to tell him to essentially piss off didn't matter either.

Myung Soo was the only one who had stuck with him through everything – even when Young Do clearly favoured Tan over him. Perhaps the reason Myung Soo was still around was because Myung Soo didn't _know _about everything like Tan did. He wasn't scared off, didn't pity him.

Yet here Tae Yeon was, holding the audacity to question him and Myung Soo's friendships, to start rumours (whether it was intentional or not, Young Do managed to carry around an atmosphere of hush like a coat, one that made even the quietest of comments ring loud like bells) that would spread like wildfire.

_Choi Young Do thinks Myung Soo is stupid. _

_Of course he is, why else would he have stuck with Young Do all this time? _

Young Do refused to reveal it was a weak spot, not when she'd already gained the upper hand by spotting his bruise; so he reiterated his point. "Does that mean he won't? That he's not?" He found himself stepping forwards without thinking until her back hit the locker and her chest was pressed against his.

"It means that whatever his ranking may be, the person whom he looks up to should not be doubting him. That his _oppa _is not deserving of that title, not if said oppa is confidently telling everyone that he'll fail."

"Wow," Young Do says. "You're really determined to be everyone's knight in shining armor. First Cha Eun Sang, then Jo Myung Soo. Even me. When will you realize that maybe you're overreacting? That not everyone needs saving? That people like you shouldn't overstep their boundaries or they'll end up falling straight into the abyss."

Tae Yeon blinked at him. "I'm determined to tell people to not put others down, or to think that they're superior to them."

_Why are poor people always so arrogant, it's tiring. Besides, aren't you being hypocritical? Aren't you acting superior to me right now?_

"Do you honestly think you're going to pass with him? Couldn't you have at least _tried _to make a better choice?" he asks, and he can feel the beast inside of him rearing its ugly head. Perhaps Chan Young will finally see what a double expulsion is like.

He slides his palms down the cold metal of the lockers until they're resting on either side of her head; and presses even closer to her. She refuses to flinch. Miraculously, none of the Teletubbies have shown up, although the amount of onlookers has at least doubled. Tae Yeon made no move to resist him, the only barrier she put up was her hardening her eyes and reaching up to grab onto his wrists.

"Do you pity him? Is that why you're like this?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "Is it because you're a charity case yourself? I thought you were smart. Too smart to feel sorry for people. Maybe I'm wrong and overestimated you. Maybe you're just some fool who cares too much about stupid boys," he suggests and then her nails are digging into her exposed wrists and Young Do realized that although she'd gotten under his skin by insulting his faith; he'd gotten revenge at causing her mask to shatter with that insult. He'd been whispering, and he could tell he'd gone unheard by the way he could see his audience leaning inwards in his peripheral vision, craning their necks to catch what had been said to trigger this reaction.

_I can hear you asking what I whispered into her ear. Surely if you're all so scared of me you should be more hushed. _

"What makes you so sure you're above him? Is it because you're ranked as such?" she asked, walking forwards so that Young Do had no choice to back up. Her nails were blunt but still digging into his flesh, and she dropped her hands to her sides abruptly, and the look in her eyes mirrored his. She was miniscule in comparison to his impressive height, yet he felt slightly intimidated by her. It appeared that rather than touching a merely sore nerve, he'd tripped a wire that triggered this.

_I wanted you to drop your mask, and for some strange reason now I'm wishing I wasn't successful. _

Before he knew it they were back in the middle of the hallway, the onlookers forming a wall on either side. He could hear someone walking towards them. Not hurried like the rest of the audience, rushing to catch up on what they'd missed – this person's footsteps were slow as they clacked against the floor.

_It's either the Chairwoman, a Teacher, or Kim Tan and his still ridiculous shoes. I'm not sure which one I would prefer. _

"I'm ranked above you, perhaps I should treat you as my inferior as well?" Tae Yeon asked, and as she arched her eyebrow at him her expression rivaled Yoo Rachel's.

_You have the fire of a chaebol, where did you learn that? _

"I told you that I didn't wish for things to be awkward between us due to my behavior, and I apologized if I offended you yesterday. That was my fault. Now you're the one out of line, and perhaps I'll pardon you because you're clearly hurt over something and I have no time to play with petty boys. I'll walk away this time, because you pardoned me for whatever I did yesterday, and out of respect for our mutual friends. Although how you still have any is beyond me," she said. Her words were sharp and clipped, still at normal volume.

He recalled her smiling and laughing with Eun Sang.

_How many personalities are you hiding, where do you find the space? How many questions have I asked since I met you? _

"Young Do," came Tan's voice suddenly, and Young Do turned to him as Tae Yeon maneuvered her way through the sea of gathered sheep. He could hear them whispering vicious things.

_Who is she? _

_Welfare students really are crazy. _

_Remember Kang Ye Sol? _

_No one's stood up to him like that since Kim Tan. _

_More like Yoo Rachel. _

_She's a crazy bitch. Doesn't she know who Young Do is? What he can do? _

_I like her. Maybe she'll put him in his place. _

Young Do snapped at that, and ignoring tan, made to follow her; only spurred on by Myung Soo's appearance.

"Oppa!" he shouted, and the murmurs hushed. He ignored him as he clung to his arm, and continued to follow her outside.

_You have embarrassed me twice already, and that was my bad. My father's always telling me I'm a disappointment, perhaps I'll do something to earn his approval. _

_I warned you to watch where you're going, lest you fall. And you've already fallen, only to rise up stronger than before. I'll take your lead for now. I want to know where you'll take me._

* * *

_This is probably littered with mistakes, and will need editing along with the previous chapter because I realised I did not check it all the way through. I just wanted it posted; and I'll go back later to check any grammar issues especially in the last section, and to make it flow better with the other two. _

_I'm having one of those weeks where you're not entirely sure what you're doing, and although I've planned this fic more than I've planned anything in my entire life, I feel like I've lost the flow. The 'How many questions have I asked since I've met you' line was actually an ironic question to myself because I really need to stop having Young Do's narrative being all questions. _

_Anyway now I'm rambling and no one wants to hear that and I just love talking about Young Do so I'm getting a bit desperate now. Sorry. _

_Thanks to all the people that followed/favourited and thanks to the reviews as well! _

_ Albinajenner: Thank you so much! I'm glad you love her, although there's still a few kinks that need to be ironed out when I right her because I know her all the way and right now it seems as if she's got a real split-personality. And as for whether she's really poor, you find out soon enough!_

_ Orator: Thank you as well! As much as I wanted him and Eun Sang to end up together - despite the fact they were about as suited as her and Kim Tan - I didn't think I could write from her POV convincingly enough. I hope you're still reading!_


	4. struggle

Tae Yeon was so caught up in her anger that she barely noticed pushing through the glass doors and the gust of wind signifying her exit from the building; so caught up in the rage threatening to boil over inside of her that she walked straight past Min Kyung where he sat in his car. So overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of rage that she missed his look of amusement as she stormed past, and when he slammed his fist onto the horn she jumped at the sudden noise, jolting out of it.

Her head whipped round, hair flinging wildly and as her eyes locked with his she halted and her mood darkened. Oblivious of this, Min Kyung drove to where she stood on the pavement, and she crossed her arms across her chest; eyes narrowing.

_How much trouble am I in because of you? Thanks to you I ran into Young Do on his first day back. Thanks to you I worried about his bruises because they reminded me of yours. _

_I was in a bad mood when Young Do approached me just now because of our conversation at lunch; and possibly overreacted. _

_I was defensive of Myung Soo ranking 100__th__ because I remember all the horrible things the girls in our year said about you. _

_Maybe Young Do was right_, she mused. _I care too much about stupid boys. _

Min Kyung appraised her stance through the rolled down window. His eyes roved upwards until they were locked on hers and they were engaged in a staring match. Not the first one that had occurred in all of their friendship, but Tae Yeon didn't have the patience for it right now.

The exit to Jeguk High was deserted; then again everything seemed deserted nowadays. The bell for end of school had rung a while ago, meaning that the crush of people rushing to get home in order to study more or invest in more stocks had already left – and the remaining students had mostly gathered to watch her and Young Do's exchange and had failed to follow her out due to fear.

Nevertheless, she wasn't too keen on spending too much time standing next to Min Kyung's car, audience or not – especially not when it was very expensive and a social welfare student would be completely out of place standing next to. He reached over to the passenger side and pushed the door open.

Their relationship was at such a stage that the _get in _was unspoken.

"I wasn't joking when I said I would key your car, and if you thought that I was you're gambling a _lot_ Min Kyung."

Min Kyung sighed and leant back in his seat, clearly as exasperated with her as she was with him; one of his hands remained on the steering wheel. "I didn't think you were, but unfortunately it's a risk I'll have to take. Besides, even if you _do _key my car, I'm sure that your oppa will give me compensation."

Tae Yeon clutched her head and massaged her temples, and the urge to whip her keys out of her bag and drag them across the red metal was overwhelming. She was still riled up from her and Young Do's argument, and remembered her mother scolding her for her tendencies.

"_You get too involved in everything, you get in trouble. You care too much, you're too emotional." _

Her mother had more than implied that she wouldn't survive here.

_So was sending me here some kind of lesson? Because it's learnt, let me go back. _

"I'm not in the mood to argue with you Min Kyung."

"If you're still upset over lunch - "

"You spent forty minutes talking to me just to drop that - "

"I was trying to ease you into it." His brows furrowed. "Did you eat?"

Tae Yeon ignored his question. "How did the easing me into it go for you?"

She glared. Min Kyung mocked her and squinted back.

"Just get in."

"I said - "

Min Kyung waved a hand at her and patted the passenger seat. "You're clearly pissed off about something, and as much as I think that - "

Tae Yeon made a strangled noise, interrupting him before he could say the name she knew was coming.

Min Kyung held his hands up in defense.

"As much as I think that _he _would be happy to know you're still so affected by him; I doubt you're still angry about what I told you two hours ago. Although you can hold incredible grudges, you never let them rise so close to the surface. You're pissed at something else, and if you just get in the car I'll take you home so that you can calm down and don't end up strangling some obnoxious boy on the bus."

Tae Yeon didn't move, Min Kyung sighed.

"We don't have to talk about it, okay? I promise I won't ever bring it up ever again," he made a motion of zipping his lips closed. "I just thought that you would want to know."

Tae Yeon relented, and she felt her whole body sag as she exhaled a sigh. Sliding into the car seat, she fastened her seatbelt and closed her eyes as Min Kyung started the engine.

"I know I said we didn't have to talk about it – but this is an entirely unrelated question. Do you want me to beat that guy up? Because his face is kind of creeping me out," he asked as he adjusted the mirror, pressing down gently on the acceleration pedal.

Tae Yeon's eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. "What guy?"

Min Kyung jerked his thumb over his shoulder, and gestured to the rearview mirror. "That one."

Tae Yeon twisted round in her seat, just to see two figures perched on the second floor balcony. One clinging relentlessly to the others' arm, and the taller figure looked incredibly satisfied with what he saw.

There, smirking down at her in a car that was far too expensive for a non-new money student like her, looking like a cat that had caught the moues struggling in a trap as he slowly disappeared into the distance – was Choi Young Do.

_Fuck._

* * *

Young Do prefers not to strike immediately. He likes his victims to suffer for a prolonged amount of time – likes to let them know that his attack is coming; that they can do nothing to stop it. Likes them to know that it is coming – to let them live in constant suspense. He likes his anger to stew and stagnate, so that they can smell it in the air. To wait until the seed of discontent blooms into a large, ugly flower.

So he procrastinates on his retaliation on Tae Yeon, instead focusing on the car he'd seen her enter. The pieces begin to fit together in his mind, and he recalls the first thing he'd ever heard her say. Hissing into her phone about being late thanks to someone's driving. He'd tried to dredge up the name from the murky depths of his memory in order to follow it and see where it lead.

_Something like Min Kyung. _

That's what Young Do assumes it was, but his searches on the internet wield nothing.

_Rich enough to have a nice car, yet not rich enough to be famous. _

Young Do awaits for Tae Yeon to confront him first, he knows that she caught him watching her; knows that she knows he is always watching. She makes no move however, and instead Young Do is pleasantly – although not all _that _surprised – to find Eun Sang confronting him about it instead. It's been almost a week since their confrontation in the hallways, since he stopped talking to Tae Yeon, and the turn in date for their English presentation is coming up tomorrow.

Young Do shuts his locker on an early Monday morning to see Eun Sang there, and for once Tan's arm is not wrapped possessively around her. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she is looking at him in a way he assumes she thinks is intimidating.

It's really not.

"Young Do," Eun Sang starts, jabbing him in the chest. It's rather difficult for him to take her seriously when her mouth is scrunched up in a way that is quite adorable; and her finger only bounces off of him. "You need to leave Tae Yeon alone."

_Of course, how silly to think that you might have actually wanted to talk to me. _

Just as Young Do had predicted, the rumours about what he'd said about Myung Soo had spread like wildfire. Young Do had ignored them all, and instead focused on extinguishing the flames that Tae Yeon had started. There were no harsh feelings between him and Myung Soo; mainly due to the fact Young Do had done him a favour in exchange for his forgiveness.

Everyone else regarded them warily, and he'd expected one of the girls – be it Bo Na or Eun Sang – to interfere. Chan Young and Tan must have held them back, although Tan had still given him a strict lecture.

_You're one to talk to me about friendships. _

Tae Yeon had been around, and it was hard to ignore her. Hard to ignore her when she sat next to him and he could smell her freshly washed hair, her perfume when she raised her hand to ask a question and it wafted towards them. If Young Do didn't know any better he'd say he might be attracted to her – the idea was ridiculous.

They hadn't exchanged any words since their altercation, and yet Young Do was hyperaware of her. He was still looking for weaknesses to exploit, thinking of a suitable revenge to exact on her.

Up until now, he'd come up mostly short.

His searches for Min Kyung had upturned no dark secrets, and neither had his inquests into Kang Tae Yeon. No dirt, no reason for her transfer: nothing. Young Do had contemplated asking his lawyer for help, but had eventually decided against it.

This was a battle that he would take joy from completing by himself.

Tan had taken a completely neutral point of view at the start of his talking to – however by the end of their conversation it became apparent that he was taking Tae Yeon's side.

He missed the days when Tan's loyalty was unwavering.

"_You need to end this Young Do," Tan had said, after he had shooed away the remaining stragglers with an air of confidence that logically the son of a mistress had no right to possess. _

_Nevertheless, all the bystanders who'd followed him and Myung Soo to the balcony had scrammed instantly – and Young Do found himself wondering who the real King of Jeguk High was. _

Surely I could take you, Jeguk inheritance or not.

"_I have no idea what you're talking about," Young Do said slyly, swiveling on his heel and walking away. Tan's telltale shoes gave away the fact that he was following him as they made their way down the hall. _

_His mind was still whirling about the situation he'd caught Tae Yeon in, the look on her face that had resembled a deer caught in the headlights. _

At least Tan had pretended to be on his side in the beginning, whereas Eun Sang's betrayal was far more obvious. Young Do wrapped his hand around Eun Sang's wrist and lowered it to her side.

"I need to leave her alone? Haven't you heard? She's the one who picked a fight with me."

Eun Sang exhaled, and when she did a piece of her hair blew out of her face. "I don't believe you. I know your games, Young Do. She's the new transfer student, and she said she wasn't new money. I understand that. But don't you think it's time to put all that behind you? To stop picking on the new students?"

Young Do huffed a laugh, and Eun Sang didn't look the least bit scared.

_Perhaps you really have outgrown your fear of me. _

"Don't you know?"

Eun Sang's brow furrowed.

Young Do laughed. "You're so quick to take her side, I'm hurt. I won't hold it against you, _probably_. Last week, Tae Yeon was seen getting into a very expensive car after school."

Her brow furrowed even further. "If you're suggesting that Tae Yeon has a driver, that's ridiculous. She takes the bus to school with me."

He snorted, and took joy at how confused Eun Sang looked.

_You make people question my belief in my friends Kang Tae Yeon, I'll question your friend's beliefs in you. _

"Don't be ridiculous. People with drivers don't get into the passenger seat, and that car was far too expensive for a driver. I thought you were getting good at putting clues together Eun Sang. Maybe you should take some lessons from Bo Na."

"Young Do, you really need to stop talking in riddles. Whatever excuse you're about to give is irrelevant. Leave her alone," Eun Sang said, and as she turned on her heel Young Do caught her wrist again.

His heart didn't jump at the contact like it used to.

"That car was the type people drive for enjoyment. The type of car rich people drive when they have places to go. I'm not saying she has a driver; I'm saying that she has friends in rich places. Rich enough to buy cars for enjoyment. She has connections, very very good connections by the looks of it. And you still don't think she's dangerous?"

Eun Sang struggled against his hold and he released her.

_That's all my life is. People struggling against me and me releasing them when I've had enough. I wonder if anyone will ever be brave enough not to fight against me. _

He remembers Tae Yeon from last week, and how she hadn't been scared in the slightest as he glared at her from up close.

"You still don't see?" He questions as Eun Sang continues to look indignant. " She's not just some poor girl that I'm picking on. I don't want to bully her, I want to battle with her; and your friend's already started it."

Eun Sang had looked disgusted before stalking off.

_What a relief we never became what I wanted. If you are so easily disgusted by this alone, what will you think when you learn everything about me?_

* * *

Young Do's silence didn't bother Tae Yeon in the slightest. If anything, she took slight satisfaction from the fact that his attempts to make her squirm were failing completely. If Young Do thought that this would make her feel insecure, he was incredibly mistaken. Tae Yeon was the master of the cold shoulder, and she played – and _won _– the silent game with her mother constantly.

The last time she had spoken with her mother had been when she'd told Tae Yeon that she would be transferring to Jeguk – and before that they hadn't spoken for at least four months after she'd informed Tae Yeon of her intentions to find her a husband.

Forcing her to attend public events and making polite conversation with her to maintain a good image was not included.

In fact if anything, Tae Yeon preferred silence to anything else. Her and Young Do had barely exchanged a _hello _or _get out of my way _since their argument; and instead she'd enjoyed talking to the rest of them and ignoring Young Do's pointed looks in her direction. They'd had multiple staring contests since then – all of which had filled Tae Yeon with amusement.

Tae Yeon was reveling in her lack of arguing with Young Do, and so far it had been a week since he'd last spoken to her. If he thought that she was just masking her discomfort, he was so wrong it was laughable and Tae Yeon had given him far too much credit.

Hopefully, he wouldn't talk to her for at least another month, and by the time he realized that she wasn't put off in the slightest she'd have had too long of a holiday from him to allow him to make a comeback.

Unfortunately, it doesn't last for as long as she'd wanted. The peaceful silence is over all too quickly for her liking. He may not have been speaking directly to her, but he'd made various hints towards her and about her, hoping to crawl under her skin like a cockroach under a carpet. Tae Yeon had paid him no attention: she'd had to deal with her fair share of bullies and vicious words before.

_I've known monsters twice the size of you Choi Young Do. If you think that you're anything new to me, you are so mistaken I almost feel sorry for you. _

It's Tuesday again, and they're starting the day with English. Their projects are due and her and Myung Soo had finished preparing on Sunday. Granted, the task probably would have been done a lot of quicker if she'd completed it on her own; but Myung Soo had insisted on doing his 'fair' share of work and had managed to distract her so that it took twice as long.

Not that Tae Yeon minded all that much, his company as enjoyable and they'd managed to construct a presentation that would play to both of their strengths.

Tae Yeon's was her ability to speak impeccable English; and Myung Soo's his incredible talent for overreacting. It wasn't difficult to come up with a concoction using the two – one that wouldn't threaten her ranking (not that she really cared all that much, if anything she'd expected better competition from Jeguk high's prestige students) but didn't rely entirely on her.

It's this Tuesday that Young Do finally breaks his silence. Tae Yeon mourns it; because this marks the return of incessant quips and trips and the daily construction of her mask. After taking such a long break from donning it she knows it would know rest heavily and uncomfortably on her skin. For once he's not staring at her in homeroom, and despite her better instincts she feels herself relax slightly – trying not to dwell on the idea of his probable counterstrike.

She takes the opportunity to examine him: the harsh planes of his face, the slouch of his shoulders as he sinks so low into his chair that they almost appear to be the same height.

Tae Yeon writes about him in her notebook, describing the sharp angles and the raised eyebrows, the hard shell of his hair as it sits atop his head. She does it without thinking, and then looks down only to realize that she'd been unconsciously comparing him to someone else. Someone she swore she would never even _think _about again – the last person who'd dared to mess with her.

Tae Yeon scribbles the lines out harshly, creating deep grooves in the pages that she instantly regrets. The girls in front of her turn around at the sound of pen scratching, and stare at her as if she's crazy. She sticks her tongue out at them, not caring that it's incongruous with her cold act. They turn around when their English teacher enters and Tae Yeon sinks back into her chair in relief; her façade sagging.

Turning back to look at Young Do, she realizes that he's now grinning far too widely at her, as if he'd caught her staring. She'd caught him multiple times and he'd refused to be bashful, so she returns the favour.

_Perhaps our teacher's entrance wasn't the reason for your sudden disinterest. _

Young Do's grinning like he had when he'd caught her in Min Kyung's expensive car, and the fact that he's privy to knowledge of her best friend makes her skin crawl because she knows that as soon as they resume whatever game they're playing he'll dangle the knowledge over her head like bait. Min Kyung has enough problems on his plate without having to deal with Tae Yeon's latest nuisance.

The teacher announces that their presentations are due then, and that they are to take it in turn presenting. Tae Yeon finally breaks eye contact, realizing that she'd prolonged it by a ridiculous amount. Her blood announces it's desire to rush to her cheeks in embarrassment but she refuses. Her skin will remain uncoloured, unblemished, unmarked – like the doll her mother had always yearned to play with.

It had taken a lot of facials, treatments and creams (and a lot of pushing from her mother_ for Tae Yeon to reach this stage, for her mother to finally be satisfied that she had enough to find a _suitable _husband.

_As if you would know anything about what a suitable husband would be. _

Tae Yeon doesn't always mind that much, there's something comforting and therapeutic about applying makeup; even if it's just so that no one can scrutinize her pores without getting close enough for her to punch them in the face. Her makeup's miniscule in comparison to the layers everyone else dons here, because despite her mother's desires she's not eager to reel in a stupid boy to do her bidding.

_Young Do trailing after me seeking revenge is annoying enough. _

Plus, Tae Yeon doesn't always need her physical barriers to replicate her complex mental ones.

"Tae Yeon-ssi should go first Teacher," Young Do chimes suddenly and Tae Yeon realizes that she hasn't been paying attention. Their teacher looks completely gobsmacked by the concept of Young Do paying enough attention in her class to comment on something. "Considering she's new and ranked first; she should show all of us her capabilities and set a good example."

Myung Soo is looking distraught in her peripheral vision, and Tae Yeon scoffs because it is isn't the first indirect comment that Young Do's made that week – and if anything it's lacking in punch.

_I expected more from you, or were you not embarrassed enough? _

"That's a good point Teacher," some girl with blonde hair sitting in the front of the class agrees. The girl glances back in Tae Yeon's direction as if she's anticipating Young Do's approval. However she's greatly disappointed because Young Do just sends the girl a withering look.

Tae Yeon stands obediently when the teacher agrees and asks them to start, and she thinks that she might have to drag Myung Soo from his chair to stand next to her. Young Do's already done this when she's looked though, and has snatched the crudely concealed phone out of Myung Soo's hands from where he'd been playing on it, and is shoving him to his feet. Tae Yeon rolls her eyes as they walk through the aisles to the front, the teacher sitting herself at her desk ready to assess them.

"Good luck _jagiya_," Young Do announces, lifting his fist in a fighting gesture and her jaw clenches unwillingly.

* * *

The fact that her jaw clenches only reaffirms Young Do's ideas. Twice he's called her jagiya, sweetheart, and twice she's tensed at the nickname. There must be something off about it, and Young Do indulges himself in the thought of some tragic, love story consisting of lots of lusting and resulting in heartbreak. Young Do decides that this is as good a name as any to call her.

_Even better than calling you the classic transfer student, aren't you lucky? _

Their classmates' curiosity is peaked at this demonstrated familiarity between them, and it's akin to lighting match in a gas chamber. The class is already prepared to examine her performance - a newcomer ranking first not taken lightly by the student body. Much like prey they are ready to pounce as soon as Tae Yeon missteps and her blood spills on the obscenely white flooring, ready to exploit all of her flaws.

_I hope you prepared well Tae Yeon-ah, don't you know how many people are ready to see you trip? _

He places his hands behind his head, prepared to enjoy the show as the off-task chatter roars pleasingly in his ears, words pointed towards him, towards her; speculating about their relationship. Tae Yeon looks quite livid.

_At least I don't disappoint when it comes to irritating you. _

"Yah," Myung Soo claps his hands abruptly. "You all better listen up or I'll photoshop your faces to show what you looked like before plastic surgery." The classroom falls silent at this threat and Myung Soo looks pleased to have made his contribution.

"What if we're just naturally handsome?" Young Do inquires, and before Myung Soo can respond - his face already contorted into a ridiculous expression - a retort is rolling off of Tae Yeon's tongue.

"He'll remove your eyebrows and we'll see if people still think you're pretty."

Young Do swears he could hear blood splatter on the ground it is now that quiet.

Their teacher coughs to reaffirm her presence, looking uneasy, and Young Do remembers all of the times he's caused a scene in her classroom. She's telling them to begin, and it's incredibly convenient because the room has fallen impeccably silent; and now Tae Yeon and Myung Soo's audience is comprised of people glowering and looking at her disbelievingly.

Tae Yeon clears her throat, tugging on her blazer sleeves and swiftly moving her hair to rest on her right shoulder; exposing her neck.

_Don't you know better than to so willingly show me a weak spot? _

Part of Young Do wants to litter her neck with his marks, to prove that she does in fact belong to him; because there's no denying that she's pretty with her cold looks and her immature behaviour. But even more of him wants to make her bend to his will and break, until one of them switches schools or one of them is embarrassed to the point of no return.

He doesn't want to kiss her - just play with her.

Even more he wants to know about her.

Myung Soo is bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet and Tae Yeon reaches out a hand to halt him, and when he stills the teacher declares that they can begin.

When Tae Yeon opens her mouth and speaks, Young Do feels his jaw pop open and quickly shuts it.

Because Tae Yeon glances briefly at the notecards in her hand (Young Do knows that they are from Myung Soo due to the ludicrous colour) and then announces, in perfect English, "Today Myung Soo and I will talk to you about Much Ado About Nothing - a play written by Shakespeare that explores quite an interesting relationship between characters, as well as exploring what the typical ideas of women are. We will be discussing the main characters, the setting, and some of the words that may seem unfamiliar in the text due to their forms."

Her voice is smooth and even, not the slightest bit choppy unlike their actual English teacher. Her words don't have the telltale Korean lilt to them, and she is using words from an extensive vocabulary and they flow so well that Young Do knows she has an incredible understanding of them in order to use them in this way.

Everyone shifts a little straighter in their seats at this, Young Do included.

_I knew that you were talented; after all you've proved to be quite the actress what with your various personalities. But I never thought your talents could extend this far. _

The rest of their presentation proves to be a success, with Tae Yeon and Myung Soo exceeding everyone's expectations because their teacher looks like she is frozen in place. Tae Yeon's English is perfect, enough to rival Lee Bo Na's, and although her words aren't entirely out of their class' understanding, it's definitely pushing the boundaries. Myung Soo and her explain everything clearly but entertainingly, with Myung Soo employing his drama skills and having the class laughing as they act out scenes and explain characters, relating the unknown words to Korean - not revealing too much so that they know what the book is about, but just enough to actually spike interest.

Young Do knows that he's smart, his IQ proves as much, but even then most of his English experience is limited to business terms, not academic ones - so he finds even his mind has to work harder in order to understand what she's saying. By the time they're finished Myung Soo is grasping onto Tae Yeon's hand and they are bowing, and most of their class are so shocked that they actually_ clap _and Myung Soo's wrapping his arms tightly around Tae Yeon and squealing because they actually were sort of successful.

_Were you right? Do I underestimate Myung Soo's capabilities? _

Young Do is still unsure of what exactly just happened when Tae Yeon finally brushes past him to return to her seat, and finally his mind catches up to the events that just transpired. Because Tae Yeon speaks _English_, speaks English without an _accent_. Speaks it fluently by the sound of it, without stumbling over her words and Young Do knows that his father would hire her in a second because he's constantly wanting to expand his business to Europe and that requires making business transactions in English, without sounding like someone trying too hard and Young Do feels a pang of jealousy, and then anger because he'd wanted her to fall and fail; and she'd succeeded beyond belief.

_I've asked once, and I'll ask again. Who are you?_

* * *

At break Tae Yeon is being spun around by Myung Soo until she begins to look queasy, and Young Do is quite impressed at Myung Soo's stamina. Then again, she's still smaller than him – which is impressive in its own right – so it's not all that difficult of a task. Her face is flushed and she is panting slightly, and Young Do barely resists the urge to make a crude comment.

"Kang Tae Yeon, I am in love with you," Myung Soo announces. "Will you be my third love?"

Tae Yeon strokes her chin thoughtfully as Bo Na and Eun Sang laugh. Chan Young is rolling his eyes and Tan looks mildly impressed; possibly still musing over her performance like Young Do is.

Today marks the day that he'd begun to launch into his attack, signified by him resuming talking to her. Even if he hasn't had all the kinks in his plan worked out, he at least has a rough outline. It also marks Myung Soo's first ever A Grade – even when copying off of Young Do he'd only ever scraped a C. the teacher had handed them their assessment sheet back, and announced that they scored full marks.

Myung Soo had leapt out of his chair in celebration, emitting a high pitched squeal, and then when the bell rung to release them he'd grabbed Tae Yeon's hands and they'd flitted out of the classroom without a glance backwards. All of the presentations after them had been dull and droll, stumbling over their words nervously knowing that there was nothing they could do to compare to the unexpected success of Tae Yeon and Myung Soo.

It was all repetitive and boring, information found in books and obtained from private tutors – nothing like the informative entertainment that their predecessors had provided.

The only other briefly interesting event had been when the teacher had given him a detention for not participating.

"That depends, what can you offer me in return?"

_What a great business woman you would make. _

Myung Soo drums his fingers on the wooden table, and Young Do has to squint harshly against the sunlight in order to make out his expression. So far no one's questioned Tae Yeon's impressive knowledge of the language, even if he'd expected at least Bo Na to ask, only if because she'd finally been bested by someone. Even with Bo Na and Tan's experience in America the words sound alien falling from their lips.

It sounds natural to Tae Yeon, and once again Young Do is reminded of the fact that she writes in another language, curses in another language - and he's never been lucky enough to catch it. Now he wonders if it was English, and if her friendship with expensive car boy extends so much that they can send her to school abroad to obtain this.

_Because what kind of girl rides the bus to school but can afford private tutors to teach her English?_

"An invitation to a club," Myung Soo says, and snaps his fingers. "I was going to ask you anyway, but now we can celebrate. I'm the DJ," Myung Soo adds, holding up his fingers over his eyes in an attempt to be cute.

Young Do remembers the event, because he'd completely forgotten. Especially since he'd been so overtaken by planning his methods for Tae Yeon's downfalls he'd forgotten about Myung Soo's gig.

Tae Yeon squirms in her seat slightly as Bo Na claps. "I completely forgot about that, what time are you picking me up Chan Young?"

Chan Young looks up from whatever book he's reading, and Young Do decides that being able to focus on anything whilst Bo Na blabbers on next to him is nothing short of a miracle. "You said you and Eun Sang were going together," he reminds and Eun Sang laughs.

"Am I that easily forgettable?"

"Yes," Bo Na deadpans and Tan flicks her ear. They're about to engage in an argument when Myung Soo slams his hands on the table - upset that attention has been drawn away from him.

"Will you come Tae Yeonie?"

"When?"

"It starts eight o'clock tonight."

Tae Yeon's brows raise. "It's a Tuesday."

Myung Soo shrugs. "The club is new, and it's its' opening; they're going for a niche sort of thing, opening on a weekday."

"Sounds like they're trying to attract delinquents to skip school," Young Do comments.

"You're coming right, oppa?"

"Of course," Young Do says, and it really is obvious. Where Jo Myung Soo goes, more often that not Young Do (albeit reluctantly) follows. Luckily enough for him, Myung Soo hadn't been too put out when the gossip had reached him and he'd dismissed it easily.

"_Just let me take some photos of you for my portfolio and I'll forgive you," Myung Soo says, as if Young Do doesn't already know that he's been forgiven. "You make a classic villain." _

"I don't know," Tae Yeon trails, and she looks uncomfortable as attention suddenly swivels towards her and for once the reaction seems out of place.

"Do you already have plans?" Eun Sang inquires.

"No it's just - " Tae Yeon searches for words. "It's a Tuesday night, it seems a little - "

"Boring?" Tan cuts in.

_When did the two of you become so close? _

"Perhaps."

"You have to come," Myung Soo whines. "It's one of my gigs and I know it will be fun if you're there."

"What kind of club is it?" Tae Yeon asks, and she's fidgeting with her phone that she's taken from her pocket now, as if contemplating messaging someone.

_Who do you want to talk to so badly? Who do you need to tell your plans to?_

"A good one, they'd have to be to hire me," Myung Soo winks.

"Myung Soo's a good DJ," Chan Young offers.

"I play excellent dance music."

Something clicks in Tae Yeon. "I'll be there," she says, and for some reason this excites Bo Na.

"Excellent, you can come to my house to get ready together," Bo Na says, bouncing on the bench and Chan Young's face lights up at the sight of his girlfriend.

_Disgusting. _

"Eun Sang's coming home with me, you can come too," she offers and Tae Yeon hesitates.

The idea of Tae Yeon being swarmed by an incessant Bo Na is entertaining and he chuckles lowly. Tae Yeon's eyes harden as she looks at him.

"It's a bit early isn't it?" Tae Yeon asks and Bo Na shrugs.

"We can just hang out and have some girl time, I haven't had any since Ye Sol transferred and Eun Sang's rather useless," she says and Eun Sang isn't even bothered enough to look affronted. "Plus you can tell me about your English, and we can have fun."

Tae Yeon reluctantly nods, and the way she's still glancing at her phone gives Young Do the impression that she has prior arrangements that she is too polite to mention due to Bo Na's excitement and Myung Soo's insistence. "Just let me text my friend to tell him he doesn't have to come to school later."

She swipes at her phone and diverts it away from Young Do so that he can't see her passcode.

_Ever so cautious_.

"I thought you took the bus," Young Do says, because although he's willing to pry at her superior knowledge, he's even more willing to pry at her friend with the car. Especially with how she's now glaring even worse at him and looking rather uncomfortable.

"I do, but sometimes this friend comes to pick me up despite me telling him not to. He's annoying, headstrong, smart but acts like an idiot. Annoying. You know the type," Tae Yeon tilts her head to the side and looks pointedly at Young Do.

Tan is looking incredibly entertained.

"Your friend has a nice car," Young Do comments, and Tae Yeon doesn't say anything.

"You have a nice face, be a shame if it became bruised."

Eun Sang laughs.

_Let's see if you're this confident outside of school Kang Tae Yeon. You're good at hiding, hiding yourself, your weaknesses, your talents, your friends. _

_You seem to like to dance. Let's see how long you can dance around this subject before I make it difficult. I waited too long to play my card with Tan; I'll try not to make the same mistake again._

* * *

_Aaaaand these chapters are getting progressively shorter. Only this time it's mainly because I cut out the actual club scenes for the next chapter so this is going to be a chapter longer than anticipated - which is good because I'm trying to get a lout out of the way. This is a filler chapter (because come on, everyone needs one of those) mainly because next chapter things are going to get interesting re: Tae Yeon's financial status. You can probably guess where that's going. _

_I promise that Min Kyung does actually serve a purpose instead of just being there (although I love him, and if you've ever seen School 2013 I imagine him as something like Go Nam Soon) and the person that they refer to as _him _is important towards the end. At least in my opinion. _

_What do you guys thinK? Any theories? Think I'm pushing Min Kyung too hard considering we know next to nothing about him? _

_Or any noticeable errors because I'm too lazy to spellcheck most of it? _

_Btw, this story can also be found on foolishloves tumblr, send me a message and we can sob over Korean dramas together. _


	5. ridiculous heights

Although Myung Soo had explicitly stated that his gig would start at eight; Young Do didn't manage to make it there until nine. Part of him is glad because it means that he doesn't have to deal with a Myung Soo jittery with nerves and freaking out over performing – he figures that Tan can handle it just this once after skipping out on all of his friendship duties whilst in America – however, the other part of him is slightly pissed. Pissed because he's missing out on viewing Tae Yeon in a different setting, to see if she finally sheds the armor that she dons around Jeguk, and pissed because the reason for his delay is his father.

He'd been scrubbing dishes in the kitchen under the harsh glare of the fluorescent lighting until half an hour ago, after his supervisor had insisted that he stay beyond his hours because he wasn't concentrating and it wasn't up to _Zeus_' standards.

_What standards? Tax evasion and cheating?_

Despite his reluctance to be early in order to avoid a Myung Soo craving attention – Young Do knew that hew as just on the verge of being obscenely late, and although it would be incredibly fashionable, it would also probably result in Myung Soo having a breakdown for an entirely different reason. Plus, he can see Tae Yeon in his mind's eye. Arching an eyebrow at his seeming lack of disrespect and support for his friend – and he refused to justify her ridiculous claims against him.

_Unless you're right after all. I am probably the worst friend that you could have, I've proved that enough times. _

Self-doubt settled heavily in his chest, nestling itself into the cavity where his heart should beat. Even his father's strikes had long ago lacked this particular sting – the wounds are now only superficial and on the surface, Young Do had long since stopped caring enough about pleasing his father for it to have any sort of emotional impact.

He gripped the handles of his motorcycle harder, welcoming the sting as they cut into his palms; raw from where he'd scrubbed at the remnants of food on expensive porcelain.

_Surely this only attests to Zeus' _standards, _the kind of people we host. So careless with their money that they're not even bothered to stomach the entirety of a wastefully expensive meal. Don't you know the hardships that the poor face everyday? _

Young Do's thoughts halted.

_Since when have I cared about the poor? Cha Eun Sang, apparently you did more than just break my heart. _

He accelerates at this, enjoying the drop in the pit of his stomach as he zooms past other vehicles, and by the time he reaches the club his face is whipped cold from the wind and the neon lights and pulsating floor are a welcoming distraction from the rest of the emotions suddenly swarming to the surface.

It unnerves him. He is the master of compartmentalization, neatly filing everything away so that nothing is ever forgotten or lost – merely put away when he no longer needs it. Yet Tae Yeon remains at the forefront of his mind; like a railway spike lodged in his brain.

Because he can't assign her a compartment if he isn't sure what she is.

Not friend, not quite enemy: not when she bantered with him the way she did. Not scared of him, not afraid to fight back; but also not a _complete _bitch like Rachel or some of the other rich girls in South Korea.

Those were about the only labels that Young Do could assign her. _Girl _and _lives in South Korea. _Even her name had him doubting himself, his searches still yielding nothing and it had reached a point of undeniable frustration. Young Do prided himself in his details, meticulously planning everything without fail. Assigning people traits and descriptions to hang under their names and faces in his mind, and although he'd gathered incredible evidence on Tae Yeon's habits; he still had no idea where to put her.

All this uncertainty was giving him a headache, and the haze of smoke and alcohol that swarmed him as soon as he flashed a wad of cash to the bouncer and entered the club alleviated it (but slowly). Far too slowly for his liking.

Young Do managed to navigate through the heaving mess of sweaty bodies until he reached the DJ station, Myung Soo's obnoxiously sequined blazer acting like a beacon in the crowd. One of the overhead lights glints off it and blinds Young Do momentarily, and he feels that telltale vein in his neck beginning to throb.

_No, this is definitely too slow. Tae Yeon-ah, I hope you decided not to come tonight. You've messed up my order and dredged up things that are far too ugly to confront. I am not happy. _

"Oppa," Myung Soo squeals as soon as he's close enough to be discerned from the rest of the crowd. Young Do's thankful for the loud music drowning out the brunt of the high pitched sound that Myung Soo had just emitted, yet he still winces. Myung Soo's bottom lip juts out in a way that is all too familiar. "You're late."

_Don't respect my friends. What bullshit Kang Tae Yeon. If I didn't respect them do you think I would have put up with him all this time? _

Young Do couldn't remember the last time he'd fixated on one person this much. Well he could. It was a tie between Tan and Eun Sang. Neither one had managed to break down his carefully constructed compartments. Neither one had managed to hide pretty much _all of their personal data _from him either.

"He probably came straight from work," Chan Young says from where he's leaning against the countertop. It extends from the bar to wrap around the turntables, changing colours occasionally as the lights beneath it change. The sequence slows down before speeding up and something about the pattern of colours is soothing. No matter how reckless he is, he likes to have order.

There's a glass coke bottle besides Chan Young, taking Bo Na's usual place.

They're no longer attached at the hip, and Young Do wants to congratulate him for the successful removal surgery, but holds his tongue. He doubts that Bo Na would be a third wheel to Eun Sang and Tan – no matter how close the two girls had become recently. She's either in the bathroom, or with Tae Yeon somewhere.

Young Do hopes for the latter, because knowing Bo Na she's wearing something flashy and distinctive, all the better to locate his target.

Young Do makes a non-committal noise in response to his comment. "Chan Young, make yourself useful and tell the bartender that I want a drink."

Before Chan Young even has the chance to mouth his inevitable refusal, Myung Soo is reaching beneath his station to retrieve something and suddenly a can of Red Bull is thrusted at Young Do's chest.

He cocks an eyebrow at the sudden movement, the cold weight of the can soothing his palms, but he cracks it open anyway and takes a swig from it as his eyes slide over the mass of bodies on the floor. He noted the beckoning gazes of a variety of brazen individuals, and promptly ignored him.

_Maybe later. _

He locates Tan and Eun Sang whispering in a dark corner and acknowledges them with a nod as Myung Soo swaps tracks seamlessly before he explains.

"I am not hauling your drunk ass back to Zeus," Myung Soo clarifies. Chan Young snorts and the drink in his own mouth is the only thing preventing him from scoffing. As if that was a likely situation – chances were he'd be the one dragging Myung Soo. "Plus, Tae Yeon's already embarrassed you once, whilst you were sober. Get piss drunk and you're juts making it easier for her."

"Seems easy for her anyway," Chan Young says.

_No one needs you here Yoon Chan Young. _

"Sounds like you're encouraging me to even the score," Young Do drawls and he can see Chan Young tense. He wonders if Tae Yeon's from some completely different planet, gifted with superior charm that aids her in gaining an army of knights willing to fight with her at a moment's notice.

"You should leave her alone oppa," Myung Soo says, pausing from grinning at a group of nearby girls who promptly swooned.

_You're only furthering my point Myung Soo. _

Myung Soo had managed to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry, working his way up through both DJing and his photography until he was something big and everyone loved him. He was famous in his own right, lawyer parents or not. This wasn't the first club opening where Myung Soo had been requested to play, and looking around it wasn't at all difficult to see why.

As Young Do continued to scan for Tae Yeon, he noticed the slick sheen of sweat covering the dancer's bodies. All the visible skin on display was flushed - everyone clearly enjoying themselves.

Despite everyone's criticisms towards Myung Soo: he was talented. He knew what tracks to play to elicit a certain response from the crowd, the puppeteer to the masses. He knew how to manipulate tracks to give the soft rise and fall of adrenaline, having it loud so that blood pounded in your ears, slowing it down so you could catch your breath in anticipation for the next build up.

He did have genuine skill, even if his ridiculous headphones emblazoned with rhinestones in the shape of his initials suggested otherwise.

"Your concern for her is touching Myung Soo-yah."

"More like concern for you," Chan Young mutters and Young Do slams his can down on the countertop harshly. Chan Young doesn't even flinch.

_Once again I wonder when I lost my grip on these people. _

Young Do prepares to make a snide comment when Myung Soo lifts a hand suddenly, still searching for his next track. His arm's extended and a finger is pointing forwards. "She's over there," he says resignedly. "Just remember that she's proved she's a match for you once, I doubt that things will be much different now just because we're not in school."

The club is Myung Soo's element – Young Do isn't always in the mood to withstand the stupidity of large groups of people all at once – and unsurprisingly Myung Soo is aware of everything. He's correct about Tae Yeon's location, even when he's not looking up. Tae Yeon is standing on his right, dancing and jumping as her and Bo Na try to avoid slipping on the mess of bodily fluids on the floor.

Young Do's nose wrinkles. He isn't sure he can handle the prospect of it without even one shot.

Sure enough, Bo Na is wearing a lurid pink dress with a matching bow in her hair, and Young Do doesn't even have to worry about losing sight of them because Bo Na sticks out sorely in the sea of blacks and reds.

Tae Yeon on the other hand is wearing a gold vest and black skirt, and Young Do knows that both pieces of clothing were filched from Bo Na's closet. And that's not just because as soon as the bell rung Bo Na had grabbed Tae Yeon with one arm – Eun Sang already hooked on the other – and dragged her into the car.

No, they were definitely Bo Na's because although she dressed conservatively in comparison to the rest of the girls eying him, what Bo Na's outfits lacked in shortness, she made up for in tightness.

Tae Yeon was shorter and more curved than Bo Na, and although these clothes might have been the loosest party clothes that Bo Na possessed, they cluing pleasingly to Tae Yeon as her body continued to move to the music.

The two of them were dancing together reasonably well; Bo Na using her signature sharp, rapid hand movements whilst Tae Yeon was more fluid, all slow moves and reaching fingertips. They were both laughing as they moved with the rest of the swarm, Chan Young watching them lazily from his perch.

"I see you're no longer worried about Tae Yeon stealing your girlfriend," Young Do remarked.

"You should be more worried about Tae Yeon stealing your heart."

Unfortunately, this time Myung Soo was too preoccupied with selecting tracks to interrupt their conversation.

_I've decided I only like speaking to you when your girlfriend is here to act like a buffer. I'm already planning one offesnvie strike, I don't need to start figuring out another one in order to remind you where you stand. _

"You should be more worried about me breaking hers, shouldn't you?"

Chan Young didn't look convinced. "You have a type Young Do. You liked Eun Sang because she wasn't afraid of you, and because she belonged to Tan. Tae Yeon most definitely isn't scared, and she seems to be happy belonging to her friends - everyone except you, really."

Young Do needed a stronger drink if Chan Young was going to continue to provide this type of conversation as Young Do bided his time.

"We're playing together, she's engaging with me. I would argue that she's already mine," he said, moving the can in circular motions in the pool of condensation that had collected on the countertop to avoid looking at Chan Young's incredulous, smug look. "As for her not being scared," Young Do paused. And grinned. "Everyone's telling me that I judge too quickly, so lets reserve our assumptions on her fears for now."

Their conversation ended as Bo Na suddenly leaned down to whisper something in Tae Yeon's ear; higher up than usual because she was dressed in a pair of Bo Na's more conservative heels, and Young Do's attention swapped from Chan Young to his most recent victim.

_Eun Sang's probably dressed in the same fashion, I'm sure that's entertaining. _

All thoughts of Eun Sang flew out the figurative window when Tae Yeon nodded at whatever Bo Na had said, and then Bo Na was promptly weaving her way out of the crowd, to what Young Do presumed was the bathroom.

_Lee Bo Na, I'll buy your favourite chocolates as a thank you present. _

Young Do stood straight then, and Chan Young followed his line of sight and scoffed when his eyes landed on Tae Yeon. Young Do clapped Myung Soo on the shoulder, and Myung Soo shot him a warning look that he dismissed.

_Your concern for me is really cute Myung Soo. _

"Be careful Young Do," Chan Young says. "Or not, I don't mind watching your embarrassment."

_Your fake concern for me is really annoying Chan Young._

As Young Do wedges his way through to where Tae Yeon is, he wonders if Chan Young is drunk. Or if he's always this loose with his tongue and has just always been so preoccupied with Bo Na he'd never had the chance to say these things. He remembers Chan Young away from him and Tan on her first day and decides that this behavior is normal for him.

Still, the prospect of a drunk Chan Young is amusing and he decides he might just rat him out to Bo Na later.

A margin of space surrounds Tae Yeon as she continues to sway to the music with her eyes closed. Almost everyone is staring at her as she moves her hair to one shoulder. Young Do had classified the mannerism as a nervous one – yet upon close inspection that appeared to be entirely wrong.

He isn't sure if she's oblivious to all the gazes on her as she continues to dance, fluidly and languidly; or if she knows that they're watching her and is reveling in it.

_How lucky you all seem too scared to approach her. I know for a fact that _

_her words bite. _

As Young Do stalks towards her, the crowd takes a collective step backwards in fear. Tae Yeon remains ignorant, continuing to sway at the slower song Myung Soo has switched to. This is Young Do's strike, and he has to make it count. He might have been wrong about her moving her hair being a sign of nerves – but he's sure he's calculated the rest correctly.

That week of silence hadn't been in vain, and he'd observed her keenly. Gathering intel as she walked around Jeguk High, because even though she was definitely aware of his obvious scrutiny, there were only so many precautions she could take to mask her behavior. Young Do was certain that this would work.

He'd watched her with her friends, especially Myung Soo because he was one of the few people who could elicit this reaction from her. He watched how she jumped when people appeared be hind her, how she yelped when people were in close proximity or when people yelled out at her – something Bo Na loved to do in her shrill voice. She jumped at least a foot whenever one of her friends suddenly grabbed her, and her expression had been rather uncomfortable before it melted into a softness that only people like Myung Soo had the talent to bring out in everyone.

Tae Yeon was afraid of people being close to her, and Young Do planned to exploit this fear.

This being said, when Young Do moved behind her to wrap his arms around her waist, pressing his chest to her back (in her heels her head could probably _just _lay on his shoulders): she was supposed to jolt.

She was a skittish person, as if her ultimate instinct was to flight instead of fly – the telltale sign of someone hiding something. Even when Tan had hidden his mother for so long as a child that it had become second nature, he'd still portrayed the same jumpy behavior. Only Tan was too rich for anyone to question him – especially when Tan had a notable mean streak and liked to target anyone who pissed him off.

Young Do had planned it all out whilst scrubbing dishes for the past week. It had been menial labor that freed up the more complex part of his mind, the simple task helping to let his creativity flow.

So no, Tae Yeon wasn't supposed to not look surprised at all, and she was definitely not supposed to settle back further into his arms and bring her hands up to wrap around his neck.

_What are you doing? _

Part of Young Do's mind nagged at him. How at ease she'd been with Myung Soo after only two days of knowing him, how she'd barely flinched when he cornered her against the lockers; all of the memories that contradicted his assumption suddenly rose to the surface.

_I can't have failed. I know how to torment people, and you'll be no different. _

But the proof is concrete and Young Do's not sure what to do.

Her back settles nicely against his chest, and her hands snake further up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. She has to tiptoe to reach, and he can see the lazy smile gracing her lips as she does so from where he is.

This manages to dissuade the rest of her suitors, and they all quickly move away to find other partners to stare at. He hears a girl hiss as she stamps away from them and towards the bar, "It's unfair, two attractive people together like that. Doesn't leave a shot for the rest of us."

He lets her sway on the spot for a while, until people found something else to fixate on. Tae Yeon seems to thrive in front of an audience and he isn't planning to give her that advantage.

_Not that my plans have worked out all that well so far. _

Nevertheless, he can feel glares burning holes into his back from the direction of the DJ booth and gathers that Bo Na has reattached herself to Chan Young as he disentangles her hands and spins her around.

"After all the embarrassment you've caused me, you have the audacity to be relaxed like this when I'm so close?" Young Do's angled them so that his back is to Myung Soo and Chan Young, effectively hiding Tae Yeon. Whether his strategy's skewed or no, he doesn't really want one of the Scooby Doo Gang butting in.

Tae Yeon's eyes flutter open idly at this and there's only a few centimeters of space between them. She grins a smile that is more genuine than the usual ones she shoots him, a prolonged version of the brief flit of expression that appears on occasion. "Choi Young Do, did you scare the rest of those people away with your eyebrows?" Her hand moves to trace his face, and he grabs her wrists, one hand coming to her shoulders to pull her forward until they are almost flush together.

Young Do's still holding his breath, anticipating the tell tale look of wanting to flee in her eyes. She refuses him the satisfaction once again, and instead wriggles her hands out of his grasp to place them flat across his chest. Tae Yeon's pliable in this state, molding around him and moving herself closer until they are pressed together; pulling him so that they are swaying.

Up close he can see her dilated pupils and the warm flush across her cheeks. He thinks he can just about distinguish the tinge of alcohol on her breath, and soothes his ego with the knowledge that this maybe the reason for her laxed reactions.

_Then again, you haven't really lived up to my expectations as of late. _

"Myung Soo's really talented," she says and her hands move so that they are on his neck, stroking his aw. They are everywhere with her roving fingers and Young Do doesn't think someone's ever touched him this much. Tae Yeon pauses, as if contemplating something – perhaps an apology for her judgmental comments – but she doesn't. "You seem stressed," she remarks instead, and then she's standing on her toes and miraculously her balance in her heels is unwavering.

Her stance is one of someone practiced at this, and Young Do wonders if he dug deep enough he'd be able to find compromising evidence of Tae Yeon in similar situations with similarly dangerous boys.

_If you expect a reaction from me so easily; you're mistaken. Not when I've worked so hard to get something out of you, and you don't oblige. _

Young Do keeps his face in different, and Tae Yeon laughs.

Young Do wonders just how much she's had to drink – because he can't imagine any of their friends allowing her to get severely drunk. At least not this quickly.

Perhaps all of them had indulged in a drink in Young Do's absence – even if he can't envision Eun Sang or Chan Na (he's taken to calling them that to save time when his thought process is whirring too quickly) getting drunk, or standing by and allowing Tae Yeon to get this buzzed.

Tan might, if only because he'd find it entertaining.

_Or maybe after all your masks and all my guessing, the way to bring you down was easy. Alcohol. It's kind of disappointing to find out that you're such a lightweight. _

"I've been waiting for you to strike, you know. After today in school I was a bit disappointed," Tae Yeon continues. She's rambling now, to fill the silence and strike up conversation where most of Young Do's club visits involve no speaking whatsoever other than to congratulate Myung Soo. Her lips are close to his ear so that he can hear her over the music, and whilst normal Tae Yeon is all clipped words and stone faced looks; drunk Tae Yeon is much like the Tae Yeon that Young Do sees her around the rest of his friends. She's loose and talking freely, even if she has to lean up and he has to crane his neck downwards in order for her to continue their one sided conversation.

"But oh," she stops. "That's it, isn't it? Why you're so mad."

Tae Yeon laughs and he thinks that she might topple as her body shakes with it. She's grabbing onto the flaps of his leather jacket in order to keep upright, revealing his white work shirt. He hadn't had time to change before coming – simply grabbing his jacket and keys before heading out. "Who would have thought that someone like you could own work clothes," she says wryly. Her hands smooth over the fabric and how did her hands get there? "Even if they're expensive ones."

Young Do shakes her slightly as they continue to move from side to side as she refuses to elaborate. "What do you mean why I'm so mad?"

Tae Yeon laughs again, and the sound is light and happy yet the spike in his brain throbs at the sound of it.

"This was meant to be it, your counter strike. This morning was just a precursory gesture. You were trying to be polite and warn me." Her giggles grow more incessant and he's sure that by now Eun Sang must be very concerned from where she's watching. "You thought I wouldn't like you touching me, because I'm so jumpy all the time. You thought you could get to me by being physical," Tae Yeon laughs again and they're so close that Young Do is thankful she's not a spittle kind of person.

"That hasn't really worked for you, has it?" She questions, and Young Do has no words to reply to her with. Then suddenly, she angles her hips just so as she twitches them to the side, her hands reaching around his shoulders until they're clasped together to give her better leverage. It looks as if she is about to tackle them to the floor, and Young Do contemplates this possibility – but her hips are still rotating in time to the beat and its awakening something dark inside of Young Do.

_I take back what I said about you Myung Soo, you play the worst music at the worst times. _

_You were playing a dangerous game before Tae Yeon-ah, and I thought that you just craved the adrenaline. Now I've deduced you must be suicidal. _

"Tae Yeon," he said, and he halted swaying. Tae Yeon moved one hand down to his hip and tilted it so that he was pressed against her.

"You said I care too much about stupid boys," her breath was fanning across his face and he could definitely smell the remnants of a drink. "You're right. I have a habit of befriending them. But you know what that means?"

Young Do didn't know how long he'd been holding his breath for. "It means I'm not afraid of them. If I was falling back into old habits I probably would have befriended you too. Only I didn't, so I'll let you in on a secret instead. Pretty, pretty boys who slather their hair in gel and flash their money around don't intimidate me – especially not when they get close enough to bite," her mouth brushes his face and Young Do's mind goes blank.

_Your audacity is unbelievable. _

"Then why don't we? Become friends?"

"I think we both know it's too late for that. I'm already too much of a mystery, and you're already too eager to solve me. Plus we both know that friendships in themselves are more of a myth in your world."

_No arguments here. _

"It's your world now too," he points out instead, hands moving to her hips to still them.

They must look a sight, the two of them together. Her in someone else's party clothes, and him in his Zeus uniform. Tae Yeon leaning up and grabbing onto him in an attempt to be face to face, their hands on each other's hips.

Tae Yeon still had that drunken, hazed look about her. Young Do knew that this would be the best time to press her for answers. She was right, he was too keen on unraveling the secrecy she'd shrouded herself in. Too keen to concentrate on establishing a friendship with her. He was about to ask one of his strings of questions – yet his father taking advantage of various drunk girls flashed in his mind and he couldn't bring himself to.

_There is too much feeling going on, not enough arguing. _

Before Tae Yeon had the chance to reply to Young Do's comment, something buzzed in between them and she settled back on the ground. The tension between them dissipated, and Myung Soo somehow managed to choose an appropriate track to play. Slow, so that everyone could catch their breath. Slow so that he could reorganize his strategy and Tae Yeon could register what had happened. Tae Yeon nudged his hand off her hip, reaching for a zipper he hadn't noticed and slipping her hand into the pocket. She retrieved a phone, glanced at the caller ID, and swiftly swiped across the screen to ignore it.

When Tae Yeon looked back up at him, she tilted her head questioningly at his raised eyebrows.

"You're not going to take it?"

Tae Yeon shrugs. "Clubs are hardly adequate places to hold reasonable conversations."

"You seemed intent on trying before." The music is soft and they can hear each other from where they're stood, Young Do's hands shoved in his trouser pockets and Tae Yeon's are crossed across her chest.

"If it's important he'll call back."

"Min Kyung?" Young Do ventures.

Tae Yeon's drunken stupor evaporates slightly at the name leaving Young Do's lips.

The crowd is dispersing, eager to go to the bar and replenish their drunkenness and Young Do knows that this is the part in Myung Soo's set where he goes to grab a drink. He can see the crowd parting behind him in his peripheral vision, Tae Yeon looking around his shoulder to avoid his gaze as she snaps out of whatever they were just engaged in. She must see something in the space behind him, because Young Do doesn't need to be holding her anymore to tell that she's tense.

"Oh he is definitely going to call back now," she mutters lowly.

"What?" Young Do asks, and turns around to see what Tae Yeon had glimpsed but her hands are suddenly grasping his face; keeping him in place.

"Just stay still," she orders. Her voice is low, the drink still softening her words.

Sure enough, the phone begins to vibrate again, and this time Tae Yeon answers it and presses it to her ear.

The transition into the second recovery song happens, and Young Do knows that there will be one ore after this before Myung Soo plunges back into the fast pace.

"Yes?" Tae Yeon calls into the phone.

* * *

Tae Yeon is having to speak quite loudly into the phone and she's pressing it so hard to her ear that it's cutting into her face in order to hear Min Kyung. She's keeping her tone polite, despite the fact that she's sort of panicking on the inside.

"What's up?" Tae Yeon can practically hear Min Kyung's smug grin through the phone.

"What do you want?" she asks through gritted teeth, and the pleasant buzz that she had is quickly leaving her as she continues to stare at Young Do, who looks conflicted between bemusement and annoyance.

"I wanted to know how much I mean to you. Blowing off practice for clubs? Ignoring me for your new friends? It's hurtful."

Tae Yeon sighs. There's no real denying it, not when she'd caught sight of Si Hyun behind Young Do. Really, she should've known better. A new club opening on a weekday was exactly Min Kyung's friend's type of scene, especially considering they didn't have much going on during the day. They didn't distinguish weekday from weekends, and Min Kyung had stumbled into her apartment past midnight enough times for her to know that they didn't really care what day it was when they went out to get pissed drunk.

She also knows that Si Hyun knows what she looks like, and that he would've told him about what he saw immediately.

"They asked me to come, and I couldn't say no. it's not like I lied to you, I said I was going out with friends." Young Do's still watching her as she makes her way off of the dance floor, heading towards where their friends are conjugated. Young Do is right behind her, she can tell by the way people are parting for them.

The conversation isn't all that important but Tae Yeon still isn't keen on him eavesdropping. Young Do already knows Min Kyung's name and that's too much information in her opinion. Plus, knowing Min Kyung, the conversation could take a turn into unexpected territory, especially when his friends like Si Hyun are involved.

"I thought you were lying to me anyway, I didn't think you had friends," Min Kyung says and she can hear the grin in his voice.

"Funny," she says, and Chan Young, Bo Na, Eun Sang and Tan come into view, all gathered around Myung Soo where he stands. "I'm going to hang up now. You can bother me tomorrow."

"I plan on it," Min Kyung says and there's music on his side of the line too and she guesses that he's in a similar environment to hers.

_Hypocrite. _

"Text me when you get home," Min Kyung says and he sounds so much like her brother its ridiculous.

Tae Yeon's joined the rest of their friends again and she sighs into the receiver but its halfhearted at best.

"Whatever."

* * *

Young Do is almost entirely sure that the person on the phone was Min Kyung – because so far outside of school he's the only person that he's seen Tae Yeon interact with. What the conversation consists of however, he isn't entirely sure because Tae Yeon's giving reasonably non-committal answers and walking away from him so that he can't hear what she's saying when her sentences are longer. What he does know, is that she ends the phone call just as they reach their friends and it appears to have sobered her up quite a bit.

She leans on the countertop in front of Myung Soo and grins at him, although her actions are more normal now; lacking the complete ease that she'd possessed before.

_Who exactly did you see that made you so worried? _

"You're doing a great job Myung Soo oppa," she says and Myung Soo beams, playing with the headphones around his neck.

"You really think so?"

Tae Yeon nods, and Myung Soo blushes.

_Just how serious were you when you asked her to be your next love? _

Bo Na agrees enthusiastically. "This is really fun Myung Soo, I'm glad you invited us," she says as she melts into Chan Young's arms. A now full coke bottle is right there and apparently glaring at Young Do's back was a sport that required rehydration. "Although I can't say the same for some people," she adds, narrowing her eyes at Young Do.

He spreads his hands in defense and clicks his fingers to order a drink.

"I'll have a shot please," Young Do says and Eun Sang rolls her eyes whilst her boyfriend seconds the order.

"And what about the pretty lady?" The bartender asks, and his hair is slimy and his grin sleazy as he looks Tae Yeon up and down, the only girl whose not currently being sheltered from his dirty gazes. Young Do wants to wrap his arm around her too, but Tae Yeon defends herself first; standing up from where she'd been leaning forward and smiling sweetly at him.

"Water will be fine," she says and her tone is cold.

There's something of a lull in conversation then, as Bo Na continues to chatter excitedly and Tan is telling her to _shut up _because even though the music was loud it wasn't loud enough to drown her out – and when their drinks come they all slam them down, even Tae Yeon gulping down her water in one go.

Myung Soo works on bringing the pace of the music back up, slowly building and layering so that it's so _pristine_, and so _precise _it's unreal. When the tracks finally reach their climax again – where it will stagnate until Myung Soo decides that it's time for a change – this is when he emits a high pitched squeal that shuts Bo Na and Tan up from where they're still bickering; Tae Yeon, Eun Sang and Chan Young watching amusedly. Eun Sang looks alarmed, but the alcohol helped to relax Young Do until he doesn't really care anymore.

"Oh my _god_," Myung Soo says, clapping excitedly until they're all looking questionably at him and he smacks his hand over his mouth.

Eun Sang grimaces.

"What?"

Myung Soo lifts up a shaky finger to point at someone, and all of their heads turn to see what he's pointing at.

"Not all at _once_," Myung Soo groans and they collectively ignore him.

"Whose that?" Chan Young asks, and Young Do's eyes finally land on the person in question.

It's a girl.

_Isn't it always? _

She's dressed in a turquoise dress that barely covers anything, with legs that shine under the lights and seem to go on for miles. Her hair's lighter at the ends than at the roots, make up heavy and with eyelashes that are far too long to be genuine. She's definitely Myung Soo's type – so of course she's way out of his league.

Still, the squeal seems a bit overkill, even for Myung Soo.

"What do you mean _whose that_?" Myung Soo asks, and he's clutching at his chest like he's about to have a heart attack and Tan is cocking his head to the side.

"That's Kim Ha Kyung, right?" Tan asks, and Myung Soo grabs onto him and envelopes him in his arms.

"Yes! Wait," he pulls back. "How did you know that? You're usually so spaced out you don't know anything."

"Her father signed a business deal with Zeus, and they both attended dinner with my father, Tan, Won and I," Young Do says and at that moment Ha Kyung looks over to them and flashes a smile. She says something to her friends and maneuvers her way towards them.

Tae Yeon looks away quickly as if Ha Kyung's teeth are blinding.

"I can't believe she's coming over here," Myung Soo says, now fanning himself with Eun Sang's help as she laughs at him.

Bo Na's eyes narrow even further as she continues to stare at her. "You mean Kim Ha Kyung, the party girl?"

It's then that Young Do notices that Tae Yeon is fidgeting. Her hands are running anxiously through her hair as she adjusts the hem of Bo Na's borrowed skirt. She's looking mildly uncomfortable and although the rest of them had been staring at Kim Ha Kyung, Young DO's pretty sure that she'd only glanced at her before turning away.

_So it takes pretty girls to get you flustered. Unexpected. _

"Hey," Myung Soo snaps. "She's more than that. She's pretty and smart and talented and _ah_," Myung Soo exhales and he's looking a little dazed now. Tan and Young Do exchange knowing looks. "And now she's coming over here."

"She probably recognizes Young Do from when her father was negotiating the deal," Tan says and Eun Sang already seems to have grown bored of their rich people politics and acquaintances and is taking a sip from Tae Yeon's water. There's already a bright lipstick stain on the glass from Tae Yeon, but when Eun Sang finishes she leaves no trace on it.

"Really?!" Myung Soo says, and he's pouting again and looking jealous and Tae Yeon is laughing and pretending to smooth away the worry liens.

_How is it she became your friend so fast, yet you became my enemy? _

"I can introduce you," Young Do offers and Myung Soo jumps up and down – before remembering that the object of his affections is nearby and immediately halting in order to save face. Tae Yeon merely looks unimpressed, and then amused at Young Do's comments. "_Some _of us have friends."

Tae Yeon scoffs at this, and looks slightly more at east. "Unlikely."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Tae Yeon-ah. Just because I know a pretty girl doesn't mean I won't have time for you," he moves to push her hair behind her ear again and she moves backwards, turning so that she's facing the opposite way. Before, she was angled so that she was looking at Myung Soo, face hidden from the rest but now she's standing purposefully where Ha Kyung can see her and it's quite amusing.

As Ha Kyung nears, Young Do braces himself for the forced polite introductions. He maps out the conversation mentally, how he'll get from exchanging niceties to introducing her to Myung Soo, inquiring after her father's business as the two of them know that they're meant to do.

It appears once again his efforts are in vain, because once she's close enough she wraps her arms around Tae Yeon and grins. "Tae Yeon-ah!"

At least Young Do isn't the only one surprised, and he takes comfort in that.

_Very little comfort. _

Meanwhile, Tan is smirking like the cat who wolfed down the canary.

Myung Soo looks to be in a permanent state of shock.

"Ha Kyung sunbae," Tae Yeon replies, and as she squeezes her arms around Ha Kyung's waist she sports a satisfied smirk and Young Do has to blink a couple of times and wonders if that alcohol worked faster than he thought.

Ha Kyung releases her to swat at her shoulder. Eun Sang's brow is furrowed and Bo Na looks pleased with the turn of events. Meanwhile Young Do's head is now throbbing even more and he motions for more alcohol because Tae Yeon was complex to start with and now it's simply getting ridiculous.

Just as it felt as if Young Do was beginning to construct the final puzzle, Young Do continuously found more and more pieces; and it was made even more difficult by the fact he had no idea what the end product was supposed to look like.

"I told you to call me unnie."

"Ha Kyung unnie," Tae Yeon amends, bowing her head still.

"Better."

No one makes a move to say anything and Chan Young scratches the back of his neck.

"How are you?" Tae Yeon asks, and Ha Kyung's teeth must have been freshly whitened because her smile is blinding and Young Do thinks its preposterous.

"Good," Ha Kyung says, and then she smiles knowingly. She's still ignoring Young Do, and whether or not its on purpose he's unsure. "Ni ne Te Mei ah?"

Everyone's expression suddenly mimics Myung Soo's. The words aren't Korean, and there's no way this is possible because Tae Yeon is already fluent in English and this is seriously _ridiculous_. Yet here they are with Tae Yeon nodding her head and Ha Kyung – a native Korean and Young Do knows this for a _fact _– is conjugating Chinese words (Mandarin probably) without any apparent reason.

Tae Yeon laughs as if no one is staring bug eyed at her; when in fact _everyone _is staring at her. "Wo hen hao, Ha Kyung jie. Ni jin wan hen piao liang."

The words aren't triggering any sort of recognition in Young Do's mind, he has no idea what they're saying and its beginning to bug him. Even Bo Na with her plethora of languages doesn't know Mandarin; and if only Tan hadn't chased Rachel away with his stupid actions she might be able to translate.

All Young Do knows is Japanese, and even that is mostly limited to persuading people into paying copious amounts of money for pretty dodgy work.

Tae Yeon's Mandarin (because it doesn't sound like Cantonese to him), much like her English is without Korean accent; and now that he's thinking about it properly she doesn't exactly look like she was born in South Korea.

He scans her features for more proof.

Tae Yeon is still speaking Mandarin, and to Young Do's ears it sounds slightly rusty in her throat. She's slipping into it slowly, like a second skin as Young Do watches. He remembers her swearing on the first day and assumes that it was in Mandarin, with Min Kyung.

_These secrets are reaching extreme lengths. _

"Ni ye hen piao liang. Ni de ge ge ne? Ta hao?"

Tae Yeon nods. "Ta hao," she pauses then and when she resumes to speak she's slipped back into Korean.. "I'll tell him to call you."

"Good, I missed him. And you," Ha Kyung Is swinging her arm around Tae Yeon's shoulders and Young Do thinks that if she gets any closer some of the copious amounts of glitter on her face might transfer onto Tae Yeon.

Eun Sang and Chan Young seem to have lost interest, with Tan looking as if this is nothing new. Bo Na however, is still regarding the two of them curiously as Myung Soo continues to look stunned.

"I didn't think I'd see you here. I've seen Min Kyung around, but not you," Ha Kyung wags a finger. "I especially didn't think I'd see you at a club opening on a school night."

Tae Yeon hangs her head and they have to be friends because no way is Tae Yeon this talented in acting. "My friends invited me, and I couldn't refuse."

This catches Ha Kyung's attention, and for the first time her eyes look away from Tae Yeon as if noticing them suddenly. It's not uncommon, ignorance. Especially when you're as rich as Ha Kyung's family. You can get away with ignoring those lesser than you, especially if you find them annoying. Ha Kyung takes in the group standing with Tae Yeon, and then notices Myung Soo behind the turntables.

Their eyes lock and _great. _

_Myung Soo if you faint I will not help you. _

"You're doing a fantastic job, by the way," Ha Kyung comments offhandedly but Myung Soo's eyes light up nonetheless. Tan grips his elbow to stop him from swooning.

"Isn't he? Unni this is my friend Myung Soo," she says and Ha Kyung shakes Myung Soo's hand.

_I hope for your sake tha tit isn't sweaty. _

"I shouldn't known that you were her friend. Tae Yeon has good taste in friends, and her friends have good taste," Ha Kyung winks. "Are you contracted to play here weekly?"

Myung Soo shakes his head and after a few false starts manages to speak. "Just tonight."

Eun Sang and Chan Young are standing further up the bar now and seem to be seeing who can throw the most nuts in the air and catch them in their mouths.

_And the upper class weep for you. _

"Too bad. If you were a regular I might come here a lot more often," Ha Kyung says and Tae Yeon manages to rescue the conversation before Myung Soo can say something stupid.

"These are my friends: Chan Young, Bo Na, Tan, Eun Sang and," Tae Yeon pauses just before Young Do's name and Chan Young slides the bowl of peanuts away from him at Bo Na's insistent glare. "Young Do."

Ha Kyung shakes hands with all of them, enveloping Bo Na, Tan and himself with a hug. She must recognize them, even if she's never actually met Bo Na before, and smiles winningly. "Ah, you three I recognize. I'm glad that our Tae Yeon has found such good company. How's business going? Good?"

They all give a non-committal nod.

"I have to be going. I'll see you around Tae Yeon-ah. Make sure to tell your oppa to call me."

Tae Yeon nods obligingly. "Of course."

When she walks away, Tae Yeon looks triumphant; although slightly uncertain.

"I need more water," Tae Yeon says when she looks at her glass in Eun Sang's fingers and realizes it's empty.

"Sorry," Eun Sang chimes and blushes. Tae Yeon rolls her eyes not unkindly. She snaps her fingers at the bartender who is busy flirting with his new targets and pays her no attention. Tae Yeon sighs heavily.

"I'll be right back."

Young Do follows her, long strides overtaking hers quickly. She attempts to shake him off – unsuccessfully. "Stalking, much?"

"I want a drink too. And if he's ignoring you, he'll definitely ignore me." They walk and pass the changing venues of conversation from the groups surrounding them. "So, the oppa she was talking about. Was it Min Kyung?"

Tae Yeon's steps become quicker and his strides elongate. "Stop talking about him."

"Why? You've already revealed some pretty interesting secrets. Why not go all out?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Where did you learn Chinese?" He questions, and then he pulls her into a darkened are of the club so that their friends can't see them, and they're shielded from onlookers.

Tae Yeon smiles sweetly and looks as if she's pondering punching him in the face. "In the uterus."

Young Do nods. "Plausible, after all I've decided you don't look all that Korean." He traces the outline of her face and she umps away from him. "What happened to you not being intimidated? Or is that only when you're drunk? Does it take a party girl to sober you up?"

Tae Yeon leans against the wall. "It wouldn't be fun if I gave you all the answers."

"it's not fun if I can never find the answers," Young Do counters. "It's interesting though," he says, tapping his chin thoughtfully and to his delight Tae Yeon caves just a _little_.

_You're close to cracking, I can see the fractures. _

"What is?"

"You see, I might not know any Mandarin," Young Do says as he leans down to blow air into her ear. She squirms away from him. "Yet I know just enough to be able to distinguish words from names. And if I'm not wrong, when Ha Kyung asked how you were she didn't call you Tae Yeon. Did she, Te Mei?"

Tae Yeon tenses and he _has _her.

"Interesting, yes?" His hands are sliding down her jaw now and she doesn't move. "I wonder what I'll find."

She sucks in a shaky breath that he can feel under his palms as they rest on her throat. "Go ahead, look. See if you find anything."

Young Do's mind flashes back to all of his unsuccessful searches and perhaps that alcohol was potent because his aggravation must show in his eyes as Tae Yeon grins. "But you haven't, right? You're angry because you've already tried and failed."

"I haven't been trying with the right name, apparently."

Tae Yeon's eyes flash and he wonders whether it's in her genetics to react badly to intimidation so that she grows more indignant instead. "Go ahead," Tae Yeon says, and she's backing him up until they rejoin the rest of the crowd. He's reminded of a similar maneuver that she'd executed in Jeguk and he just watches. "Search. Just don't blame me if you don't like what you find," and then she's ducking around him and getting a drink from the bartender; before returning to their friends.

Young Do remains there for a while, as people dance around him. Still. Thinking.

_I'll like whatever it is, as long as I finally find something useful._

* * *

When Tae Yeon wakes up the next day there's a faint throbbing in the back of her skull that is all too familiar from her past. She remembers all the nights spent under strobing lights, drinking until she built up her alcohol tolerance. She remembered being sheltered from boys with roving stares by Min Kyung and his friends with even more roving stares and stony expressions.

From yesterday however, she doesn't remember al that many details. She thinks she can remember Myung Soo hugging her to hide her from a group of boys – which may have been triggered from the onslaught of memories of the last times she'd gone out drinking. She remembers seeing her friends, all of them waiting for Young Do.

Then she recalls dancing with him, her hands roaming over the expanse of his chest: playing with his hair. It all hits her like a concrete truck as she disentangles her legs from the sheets and swings them over the edge of the bed.

It takes her a moment to regain her equilibrium as she stands. There's a glass of water placed precariously on her bedside table that most definitely wasn't there when she collapsed in her bed and went to sleep.

_Go Min Kyung, how many times do I have to tell you to be more careful with my things? _

She downs it anyway, and it helps to satiate the dryness in her throat. Tae Yeon is pretty sure she wasn't _that _drunk – after spending countless nights out with Min Kyung to ensure he stayed safe: her alcohol limit was pretty high. Yet the smokiness of the place had been invigorating and she hadn't felt free for such a long time that it was all too easy to relinquish control.

Then the phone call with Min Kyung resurfaces and Tae Yeon groans. She remembers more about Young Do. Remembers him touching her face after Ha Kyung had come over her.

Ha Kyung. Ha Kyung speaking Mandarin to her. Ha Kyung the super rich heiress who had people all over Seoul panting after her, wanting to be her best friend. Ha Kyung hugging her.

_Fantastic. _

One downside to partying on a weekday was having to face school the next day with a pounding head and a dazedness that made processing any learning whatsoever nearly impossible. An added downside in Tae Yeon's case was knowing that Young Do would have more questions than ever – and now he had witnesses and evidence to justify them.

_Telling him to search for you, how stupid can you get?_

She tripped over her feet on the way out of the bedroom, placing the glass in the sink before taking a shower to clear her head and completely sanitize it from thoughts of Young Do and how he had felt beneath her hands.

Unsurprisingly, Min Kyung's sprawled across her sofa, jacket flung over the back of it and blanket pulled messily over him.

"What's the point of giving you a bed if you don't use it?" Tae Yeon mutters, flicking his ear before refilling the glass and placing it next to him. She pondered the idea of throwing it in his face. But it was still too early and she really needed a shower to get rid off that grimy smell.

By the time she's dressed in her uniform Min Kyung's already awake, hair rumpled and clutching a cup of coffee. He gestured towards the other one sitting on the table, next to a bowl of cereal. "Eat. Fast. You're not blaming me for your lateness again."

Tae Yeon scoffed. "Whatever." She started to eat anyway, and the coffee did a lot for her tiredness.

"So," Min Kyung drawls. "Si Hyun said he saw you with a boy."

"Si Hyun says lots of crap."

"I don't suppose it was eyebrow boy?"

"Shut up."

"You said that it's hell there, yet you seem to be having loads of fun."

"I told you to shut it."

"You're so touchy," Min Kyung says as he places his dishes in the sink. "It's a miracle you have any friends."

Tae Yeon picks up the pen lying on the table and chucks it at him.

* * *

Young Do's at school early the next day, eager to catch Tae Yeon. It's cold and crisp in the early morning light as he sits on a bench, and he pulls out his phone. It rings for a couple of times before he hears the call being picked up.

"Hyo Shin sunbae, I need you to do something for me."

"Have you no manners Choi Young Do?" Hyo Shin asks, and Young Do supposes that in order to sweeten him he could have placed a couple of niceties, but he's in a rush and he can't be bothered.

He knows Hyo Shin, and knows that most of the time his curiosity gets the better of him. Quite like himself.

"I'm sorry. Yes, sunbae. How are you? Good? How's Rachel? Are the two of you very much in love? I need you to do something for me."

"I am fantastic thank you for asking, and Rachel probably still wants to slap you every time she sees you," Hyo Shin says conversationally, and Young Do knows that he is purposefully dragging out his syllables in order to irk Young Do. "What can I do to you?"

His voice is mockingly sweet to match Young Do's and Young Do knows that this is why Hyo Shin is the only senior he's ever paid any semblance of respect to.

"Find someone for me." Perhaps with Hyo Shin's legal connections he can find more information than he could. His pride had stopped him from asking for help to search for Tae Yeon before, and he thought that after yesterday he'd be able to uncover new grounds with a new name.

The dark circles under his eyes paid testament to exactly how well that had gone.

_Pride has gone and been replace with desperation. _

"No."

Young Do whistles lowly and it carries around the empty high school. The dead body outline is visible from where he's sitting, and he wonders who it represents today.

"You jumped at the chance to help Tan look for Eun Sang, and yet you won't help me." Young Do pouts and knows that Hyo Shin can hear it. "Your favoritism really knows no bounds. Is that how the son of the defense attorney should be acting? Then again it explains why Rachel's so smitten with you. She's rather spoilt."

Hyo Shin deflects his comments about Rachel and perhaps that's why they get along so well. Rachel requires constant attention and Hyo Shin is willing to give it in his own, quiet way. That and they're both incredibly good at pretending they don't feel anything, even if he knows that the way Hyo Shin acts laidback grates on Rachel's nerves.

_I'm happy for you, sister. When the two of you get married I'll be sure to buy you the biggest present. I'll make sure it's something to embarrass you, and entertain Hyo Shin. _

"Tan was looking for Eun Sang for sincere reasons, your reasons are probably suspicious," Hyo Shin says boredly and Young Do wonders why his senior is even awake at this hour. He's not in school anymore, enrolling in a film school upon graduation without a second care for his parents. It's impressive really, because Hyo Shin's mother makes _Young Do _shiver, and yet Hyo Shin had somehow managed to shake them off.

He supposes some of it might have to do with the awards he'd won with the film he released on his graduation day, and some sort of threat about their family's reputation.

_You're an inspiration to us all. _

"Your words hurt me, sunbae."

"I don't suppose the person you want me to look for is the girl Eun Sang was telling me about?"

Young Do freezes.

_Eun Sang, I expected this from Bo Na. But not you. Did you really think telling Hyo Shin would help Tae Yeon?_

"That depends on what she told you," he says icily.

"She said that you were picking on her and arguing," Hyo Shin says and his voice sounds irritably smug. "And judging on that I'd say you like her."

"Then no, this is not said girl. Said girl doesn't exist. At least not the me _liking _her part. I'm far more interested in exacting revenge so that she doesn't bug me anymore."

"Young Do-ah, we both know that you hiding your feelings never ends well. It's surprising that Tan hasn't tried to stop you yet. It's been what, two weeks, and you already seem infatuated with her."

"I'm hanging up now sunbae," Young Do says and he is already regretting calling him. "I hope you don't treat Rachel the same way you treat me."

_Infatuated with her. Hyo Shin sunbae, I know that you plan to make a career in film, but still that seems a bit overdramatic._

* * *

_And here I thought I was beginning to ditch the long chapters. Apparently not. Whenever I feel I manage to get a grasp on this and make it shorter, everything conspires against me and goes nope. One of these days I'm going to have to go back over again and rewrite, hopefully shorter, and make it more continuous. _

_In comparison to the earlier chapters I think there's a lot less of Young Do and Tae Yeon's thoughts, what do you guys think? Want more? Less? _

_I love reading your comments, both here, on ao3 and the fanmail some of you send on Tumblr. It makes me gush! I'm on break for the next two weeks so hopefully I'll write faster. _

_I want to thank all of you guys for reading this story, especially because even I can't read it most of the time (this chapter was finished last Sunday but I couldn't edit it because reading it was too much for me). I love all of you!_


	6. question and answer

Tae Yeon may have said it before, but it was so true that it simply _had _to be reiterated. One of the downsides of going clubbing on a weekday is school.

That being said, naturally the downside to going clubbing on a Tuesday is that the day after is a Wednesday; the day after that is a Thursday; and only _then _is it finally Friday. Which of course means, that when Tae Yeon finally comes to her senses and remembers what transpired whilst she'd been slightly drunk – she had to drag herself out of bed to attend the remaining three days of school before she could finally crash in her bed and feel remorse for her actions.

Skipping school wasn't an option.

Not with Min Kyung crashing in her apartment and insisting on driving her so that he could 'scare off eyebrow boy's advances on her, and restrain her from groping him' (he still had no concrete proof that the boy Si Hyun saw her dancing with was him – not that that halted him) and the prospect of her mother calling her home to discuss her truancy.

She'd rather spend an extra hour in the morning constructing another layer of defense to protect her from Young Do's more through annoyances than have to suffer through her mother attempting to pry inside information from her.

_Caught between a rock and a hard place. Young Do your head's as hard as a rock, and my mother's house is the hardest place to be in. _

Min Kyung had attempted to gather details about her night in the car – so she'd drowned him out by singing very loudly and very obnoxiously along to the songs blasting on the radio. He entertained her until they pulled up to Jeguk's ominous gates, where he resumed his pestering until Tae Yeon relented and admitted that she'd seen Ha Kyung.

Min Kyung's fingers drummed on the steering wheel and he was always so relaxed and it was beginning to seriously piss her off. "They think you're on a social welfare scholarship right?"

Tae Yeon made a non-committal noise.

"That's why you looked like you would rather be swallowed by a hole in the ground than get into my car the other day."

"Rich people thrive on assumptions," she said, and refused to let Young Do's face pop into her mind as she did so. "I'm just being generous and indulging them. You being here contradicts their assumptions and probably gives them a headache."

Young Do's furrowed brows appeared in her mind despite her intentions.

"I bet Ha Kyung gave them a massive headache then," Min Kyung scoffs. "You should have anticipated seeing someone you know."

Students were passing by where they were seated in the car, giving her dirty looks as they took in the superb paint job and complex dashboard. Even if it wasn't Min Kyung's special car (which was apparently too good for Tae Yeon to ride in); it was still expensive. Tae Yeon didn't care about whether or not they had headaches now, not when she was starting to feel her own approaching.

She felt brief sympathy for Young Do and how meddled he was due to her, and squashed it down.

They muttered lowly under their breath as they passed her, and she found that she didn't even care if they assumed she was sleeping with Min Kyung in order to climb the social ladder – she'd already made a pretty big mess of herself, and might as well ride out on top of the wave.

'_Stay low, blend in' I said. What happened to that? _

_Less of a what, more of a who. _

"I know a lot of people, and considering you cling to me all the time you should've guessed one of them recognize you. Especially if you didn't want to get caught trying to flirt with some guy."

Tae Yeon purposefully ignored his comment so as not to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging that she had been dancing with anyone. "Whose clinging to who?" she quipped instead.

"You're just lucky you didn't see _him _there."

Even without Min Kyung making quotation marks in the air, she knew who he was referring to and her fists clenched involuntarily.

It was bordering on cliché really, how quick her reaction to him was. Recently, Young Do had been the one to set her veins alight with anger, to drag dry remarks out of her lips. So much so that she'd forgotten of a time before she attended Jeguk: even if it was only mere weeks ago. Tae Yeon had welcomed the distraction of a good quarrel – no matter how childish it was.

_Apparently not distraction enough. _

"You promised we wouldn't talk about him," she said, voice strained.

Her hangover was ceasing, yet a new one was already forming at the sound of Min Kyung's voice. Young Do would definitely only serve to worsen it, and for once she felt like she might have lost the upper hand.

There wasn't a clear way to regain the advantage, other than to act like she wasn't having an internal freak out at the prospect of how easily she'd released her inhibitions in front of him.

Her eyes were threatening to slip closed, and she was very tempted to tell Min Kyung to drive her back home. Or take her with him wherever it was he was headed today, with whatever sorts of errands he was going to carry out. If she was lucky he'd be helping his parents, if she wasn't she'd have to spend incredible amounts of time inhaling cigarette smoke in dark places.

The fact that it would be an obvious sign that Young Do had gotten to her was the only thing preventing her from doing exactly that.

"I'm just saying that for someone who practically refers to him as _he-who-shall-not-be-named_, you didn't think a great deal about how to avoid him," Min Kyung says. He was enjoying the attention being thrown his way, winking and grinning at the girls whispering about him.

"For the love of God, _stop_. They already probably think I'm sleeping with you for rides to school," Tae Yeon said, grabbing Min Kyung's hand from where he was waving through the open window, and he grinned back at her. "Besides, he's probably too sophisticated for clubs like that now, knowing how learned and well travelled he is. Plus, if you were that worried you should have warned me yesterday."

"You seemed pretty fine to me when I spoke to you. Drunk, but fine."

"I wasn't _that _drunk. Yet if I sounded drunk to you shouldn't you have been more worried?"

Min Kyung snorted. "I'd be more worried for the boy you were with. If anything _you'd _be taking advantage of _him_. Si Hyun said you seemed pretty intent on groping the daylights out of him."

Tae Yeon groaned and sat forwards to sling her backpack over her shoulders.

"Plus, Lord Voldemort was out with me yesterday, in a different club. You're right though," Min Kyung said, as if the fact that Tae Yeon had managed to guess accurately was very amusing to him.

_Sick bastard. _

"He seemed to be bored out of his mind there. He's got better manners though, he didn't say it explicitly."

"Min Kyung," Tae Yeon said as she swung the car door open. "I don't care."

He pursed his lips as she stepped out of the car and adjusted her skirt as she stood on the pavement. She hadn't gotten the slightest bit drunk for a while, and it was pretty disorientating. Especially when the sun made an appearance from behind the clouds causing her to wince. The urge to fidget with her hair was there, and she was having trouble keeping her mask in place. Squirming as everyone appraised her would do no good, so she held her head up high instead even if it felt very put on.

"You may have outgrown him with your fancy new uniform and loud friends," Min Kyung said as he appraised her, and she could see that look in his eyes - bordering on pity and she was about to shout at him for it. He continued to look at her instead, as if chalking up all the things that had changed in her over their years of friendship. She wasn't sure if he seemed saddened or glad for them. "But the feeling's not mutual."

Tae Yeon slammed the door shut at that, and he winced. She contemplated taking out her keys to put to the paint job and make true of her threat, so that the rest of the school could add _crazy _to their list of adjectives for her, and barely resisted.

_Next time. You step one toe out of line and we'll see if you're still laughing then._

"Don't pick me up," Tae Yeon said as she spotted Eun Sang and Chan Young. "I'll take the bus home with Eun Sang."

People were continuously edging closer to gather snatches of conversation, so she switched to Mandarin; even if there was nothing important enough to disguise. It had felt rusty talking to Ha Kyung yesterday, and ever since it had just been her and Min Kyung hanging out she'd had nowhere to put it into practice. The fact that she could speak the language was already out in the open, so she no longer cared. People knowing that she wasn't Korean wasn't a major concern, not when there were other things that they would find far more interesting.

"As you wish. Tell me if tall dark and eyebrow-y bugs you," Min Kyung replied in a half-decent Chinese accent. It wasn't one hundred percent accurate, and had been picked up from hearing things thrown around (especially curse words), but Tae Yeon had known him for long enough that the words made sense anyway.

He'd known Mandarin since she had learnt Korean, because it was the only way they could communicate and had served useful until now. Although in the beginning he'd completely butchered his pronunciation. At least now it was familiar enough to understand.

She'd known no Korean when they'd first met; not until her mother had forced her into tuition when they moved here. None of that had been nearly as educational or as fun as playing with Min Kyung, and now her language was indiscernible from a native.

"Bye loser."

"Bye jagiya," Min Kyung said in very loud Korean. "I love you."

This caused an uproar in gossip and Tae Yeon sighed. She was too tired to deal with this. Perhaps she could sneak in an extra fifteen minutes of sleep at lunch. Tae Yeon turned as he zoomed off, Chan Young and Eun Sang approaching her quickly.

"I'm hoping that you know him," Chan Young comments.

"Ironic because right now I'm hoping that I don't."

Eun Sang laughs at this and hooks her arm through hers and Tae Yeon allows herself to be dragged towards their homeroom. There's about five minutes left before the bell rings and it appears Min Kyung has finally given up on his mission to make her repeatedly late.

"Where's Bo Na?" Tae Yeon asks and Chan Young gestures vaguely.

"Helping Young Do and Tan wake Myung Soo from his hangover. It's messy and for unknown reason my girlfriend is apparently an 'expert' at it."

Eun Sang's nose crinkles and Tae Yeon decides that she most definitely does not want to know.

"I'm just glad Tan didn't get drunk. He gets all creepily affectionate."

"More creepy than usual?"

Eun Sang swats at her and Tae Yeon shoves her playfully.

Chan Young steps in between the two of them so that they stop.

"Speaking of Bo Na, she asked me to invite you to Myung Soo's studio after school to study."

"Are you sure?" Tae Yeon asks, because she's sure that Young Do is on the verge of discovering something and isn't sure that they'll still be friends when this is over.

Tae Yeon has a habit of ruining things, and this probably isn't an exception.

"Yeah, Chan Young. She's already beaten you for number one, are you sure you want to give her even more of an advantage?"

Eun Sang manages to quell her fears just like that.

_It's weird, how both these conversations and Tan's warnings, Young Do's threats can all take place in the same halls. _

"Funny," Chan Young says as he sticks his tongue out. "So you'll come?"

Tae Yeon nods despite her urge to go home and nap.

"Young Do will be there," Eun Sang says and her concern is genuine and endearing and Tae Yeon decides that that is how these conversations can happen, because Eun Sang is a genuine, sweet person that Tae Yeon will never be able to compete with.

"I think if anyone should be scared, it's Young Do."

Chan Young's probably right. This doesn't stop Eun Sang from worrying as Tae Yeon takes a seat, and it's obvious from the way Eun Sang is eyeing Young Do's table worryingly.

_How could it be that Tan can see me for what I truly am, Young Do's on the verge of discovering what's beneath the act, yet the two of you think I'm someone who deserves to be protected? _

"I'm fine, Eun Sang. If worst comes to worst, Min Kyung got me a can of pepper spray for my birthday last year."

This soothes her, even if it's a joke. The can is most definitely real though.

Then the rest of their class enters and Eun Sang knows better than to openly question Young Do's intentions in front of an audience, so Tae Yeon relaxes and slumps forwards on her desk and decides that missing a couple of minutes from homeroom won't be that bad.

* * *

Quite predictably, the actual studying does not last all that long. It had started off well, with Tae Yeon helping Eun Sang with her English whilst Bo Na chatted incessantly with her about American and English music - to which Chan Young remarked he was glad he only understood three quarters of what they were saying because it was such nonsense. Eun Sang merely laughed and attempted to join in, until she'd run out of vocabulary to use and had resorted to quoting horror movies.

They'd all laughed at each other and it had been nice. Tan was there too - because even if he wasn't permanently shackled to Eun Sang like Chan Young and Bo Na; he still saw the need to stay in the same room as Eun Sang at all times. Granted, he was listening to his music in the corner splayed across the sofa, and perhaps that was why Tae Yeon found him so tolerable.

Tae Yeon had to admit, Myung Soo's studio was nice. It was all open space, and Bo Na had explained that it was a place for him to do his _work_, which usually comprised of developing photos or mixing tracks, or seeking refuge from his very strict parents and sleeping over. Proof of this was littered everywhere, with headphones on the table and photographs pinned up on the wall behind the table they were sitting at. Most of them featured the inhabitants of the room (she could spot the one of her that Myung Soo had snapped when they'd first met) and one of them even had Young Do smiling. Bo Na caught her staring at it.

"It's one of Myung Soo's most prized possessions, it doesn't happen all that often."

Tae Yeon said nothing, especially not with Eun Sang suddenly scrutinising her as if looking for something. She could handle the scrutiny from everyone else, but from Eun Sang it just felt _wrong_.

Luckily enough for her, Myung Soo flounced into the studio then. Unluckily, their studying just went to hell from there, and Young Do was trailing behind him.

What Tae Yeon had anticipated, was Young Do pressing her until she admitted the whole truth - what she _hadn't _been anticipated was Young Do acting as if nothing had happened. She was grateful, yes. Anxious: a little. The first time he'd played the silent card she hadn't been worried in the slightest, she knew that she had the upper hand and that he was flailing after her. Now however, he was the one holding the cards and giving her a taste of the medicine she'd given him for the past weeks.

When he caught sight of her his mouth lilted into what was _almost _a smile - if the photograph was any sort of indication of what it normally looked like. He was younger in the picture, and looked hardened all the same, even if only slightly more innocent. His hair had covered his forehead and his eyebrows, which were now his distinguished feature.

She remembered how Min Kyung had been noting differences between her and how she was in the past, and wondered if every time Tan and Myung Soo (maybe even Bo Na) came in here they did the same.

"What are you doing?" Myung Soo questioned as he made a direct line for where Tan was laying down, and immediately jumped on his stomach and they all winced as Tan jerked upright.

"Studying," Chan Young said and Myung Soo pulled a face as Young Do walked towards the table, sticking his hands in his pockets and looking over Tae Yeon's head and staring at her notes. Instinctively she pulled them away and Young Do grinned, knowing that she'd been ruffled.

"_Boring_," Myung Soo sang, and Eun Sang began packing up her books.

"We won't get anything done with the two of them here, trust me," she explained.

"I'll have you know that I'm very hardworking Eun Sang," Young Do said as he stood back to allow her to stand as she made her way over to sit besides Tan who had finally managed to push Myung Soo off of him. Myung Soo pouted and Tan took his headphones off to hang them around his neck.

"Not hardworking enough apparently," Chan Young said as he stood up and followed Eun Sang, Bo Na following suit so that when Chan Young sat on the armchair she could seat herself neatly in his lap. Young Do made a gagging gesture as Tae Yeon slid past him to sit as well, and when he followed he walked closer to her than usual, and his stare was scalding her skin.

It wasn't heavy or dark, as she'd expected it to be. There wasn't a trace of alcohol in her system anymore, yet the atmosphere between her and Young Do was light like it had been yesterday.

_It unnerves me. _

Tae Yeon sat on the long sofa to one side, and Young Do took it upon himself to sit on the other end, swinging his legs up to lay across her lap. She shoved him off, aggravated, and Myung Soo took it upon himself to sandwich himself between the two of them and Tae Yeon wondered why everyone seemed to think that she was the sheep in this situation.

They sat there for a couple of minutes, talking idly about school and Tan chimed in with his own English - heavy with an American accent that sounded butchered - until Myung Soo jumped up. "I'm bored," he declared.

"What do you suppose we do about it?" Young Do drawled, and his arm slung around the back of the sofa so that it was laying behind Myung Soo and his fingers could nudge at Tae Yeon's shoulder.

"Let's play a question game to know each other better," Myung Soo decided, clapping his hands together and Tan groaned at the prospect.

Tae Yeon briefly wondered if this was part of Young Do's game plan to find out more about her subtly, yet he looked surprised and pleased, and his arms were long enough to reach her and nudge against her neck. It had always been sensitive, and she flinched slightly.

His grin widened even more and she really wanted to punch him.

"What sort?" Bo Na questioned, and her eyes were bright and of course she would be the type to like games.

_That's very cute Lee Bo Na but now isn't a very good time. _

"Each person asks a question and everyone has to answer?" Chan Young offers and the group nods and Tae Yeon braces herself.

"You can start then," Tan says and now Tae Yeon is incredulous because there is no way that even _Kim Tan _is agreeing to play a game.

Tan looks at her and shoots her a look and now Tae Yeon really wants to punch him as well because she'd always thought that Tan had been conspiring against her and this only serves to prove it.

"Where are you from?" Chan Young asks, and it is an easy, simple question that is meant to break the ice and if Chan Young thinks he is being subtle in trying to help alleviate the tension that is quickly rising as Young Do continues to look like he has already won a game with no victors, he is fooling himself.

"Seoul," Bo Na says.

"Seoul," Young Do seconds.

"Seoul," Myung Soo repeats. It's unsurprising, because they're all chaebols and the heirs to big businesses based in the capital, they're old money and born and bred here, so that people know their faces from the minute they enter that bright hospital room screaming and red faced.

Everyone turns to her and she can see Young Do's head cocked to the side no matter how she tries to position herself so that she can't see him due to Myung Soo.

"Beijing," Tae Yeon declares and although she'd already decided that morning that there was no harm in people knowing her heritage, she thinks she might have said her name as she says the name and her accent comes out. They all look interested so she continues. "I didn't live there for long, but my parents are both Chinese and that's how I know Mandarin."

No one asks any more questions, and Tae Yeon internally sighs in relief.

"And here I thought you were unique, turns out its just because you're not Korean," Young Do says and the words are cutting but the way he says them is still victorious and they hold no sting.

"Seoul," Tan says, and they've travelled back into chaebol territory.

"Gwangju," Eun Sang offers.

"Seoul," Bo Na finishes and then it's Bo Na's turn to ask a question and bets are on that she asks another buffer.

_This feels like a very toned down version of truth or dare. How long until it turns dangerous?_

_Myung Soo this is mild for one of your ideas, what do you have planned?_

Bo Na ponders her opportunity for a while, and shifts so that she's better seated on Chan Young's knees. Tan pulls a face. Bo Na begins to tap her chin and then looks at Chan Young before her eyes light and she grins. "When was the last time you were in a relationship?" Bo Na asks and something in Tae Yeon's stomach tightens uneasily.

"Never," Young Do says and he settles further back into the cushions. "Girls are usually too clingy for my taste."

"More like you're not to any girl's taste," Tan says and they share some sort of inside joke and Myung Soo pushes Young Do.

"Never," Myung Soo says. "All of my crushes have ended in heartbreak," he says sighing dramatically and swoons into Young Do's side.

They all look at Tae Yeon and she doesn't even blink. "Three months ago." She can see the cogs whirring in their minds, and know what they are calculating.

"That's just before you finished school," Bo Na says and her mouth is pulled into a rather cute pout.

"Then I guess it's lucky I transferred here to avoid awkward encounters." Tae Yeon's heart does a funny tugging in her chest and she curses it. She doesn't have time for feelings or boys, not anymore.

_I shouldn't even be playing with you, Young Do-ah. _

They skip the rest of the answers because they're currently involved in one, and no one really wants to hear them gushing about their significant other because they have to witness enough of it everyday.

It's Young Do's turn and Tae Yeon's stomach clenches in time with her heart. His smile is eased and relaxed and although it's a nice change from his self satisfied grin, the context it's in is unsettling.

"In the last breakup you had, who broke up with who?" Young Do asks and Tae Yeon knows that he saw her flinching when he called her jagiya, and knows that he's digging around this calamity to see what exactly lies within that the can use to his advantage.

"Yoo Rachel," Myung Soo muses and the name sounds familiar but she can't match it to a face. She'd heard about the legendary queen of Jeguk who had reigned before she got here - she'd left after her engagement with Tan broke and deemed it beneath her. "Her words are cold, and stopped my beating heart."

"You said you've never had a relationship," Chan Young points out.

"You're such an anti-romantic. Try it again and I'll steal Lee Bo Na from you."

"I doubt it," Tan says and Myung Soo looks betrayed.

Then it's Tae Yeon's turn and she looks as disinterested as possible; it comes naturally because the subject had grown tired long before she came to Jeguk. Min Kyung had asked incessantly after it and she'd dismissed it. She can tell that Young Do is expecting some sort of sob story, one of heartbreak that had her fleeing her old school to come here, to act like a bitch and harden her exterior.

It gives her great pleasure when she announces that it was her.

No one speaks and Young Do freezes.

_Perhaps regaining the upper hand wasn't that hard after all. _

"Cha Eun Sang," Tan declares proudly, and quickly. He's covering for her, and Tae Yeon doesn't know why because she does not want to feel indebted for him, even if he's growing slightly more tolerable.

"Tan," Eun Sang says after contemplating it for a while and Tan doesn't laugh along with her and bops her on the nose.

"Eun Sang," Chan Young says and Bo Na hits him at the same time Tan sends him a deathly glare. "She used to be very tall and very scary. My style."

"Tan," Bo Na says in retaliation, and then seems to remember that Tan is actually in the room and it quickly dissolves into blushing.

"Cha Eun Sang," Young Do repeats.

_Ah, so that's what that tension is. And here I thought the two of you were refreshing and simply just upset over something normal – but of course it was a girl. _

"Lee Bo Na," Myung Soo says and Young Do whistles lowly.

"It seems as if you've all dated quite incestuously. Should I be worried?"

"Of course not Tae Yeonie, you can be mine," Myung Soo says as he clutches at her hands and it feels quite nice as he laces his fingers with hers.

Bo Na claps loudly to cover up her earlier embarrassment.

Myung Soo seems to be spurred on by the recurring theme.

"Who was your first love?"

Tae Yeon's throat dries.

"I'd rather not say," she says tentatively, and the answer's safe and leaves a lot to be desired; yet there's no way she can say more without feeling like she's choking. It's surprising enough that her voice comes out at all, even as it sort of feels like she's drowning suddenly.

"That's no fun," Bo Na pouts even if there's no real conviction behind it, and Tae Yeon feels her temples begin to throb and doesn't even ahve it within her to glare at her.

"Tells us about him instead," Myung Soo suggests, and Tae Yeon suddenly finds herself immensely interested in the hand stitched hem of her skirt.

She decides to accept the scapegoat Myung Soo's offered her, because it's a better reality than allowing Young Do to interrogate her mercilessly about it.

"My first love was," her mouth twists into a wry smile as she thinks about how best to phrase it, how best to describe him. Something in her mind flashes and her smile turns even more sardonic. "A stupid boy." She can see that if Young Do's interest wan't peaked before, it definitely is now. "One who was my friend first, and I did the stupid thing and fell for him. I liked him, and it hurt to be around him when he only thought of me as a friend - and when he found out about my feelings for him: he broke my heart."

There's a sudden pang in her chest as she says this, and she pushes the pain aside, focusing instead on the warmth of when they were happy together; pointedly ignoring Young Do's blank look and the way everyone else is listening intently. It feels way too much like a therapy session, and it's threatening to choke her.

"We dated for a while," she says, and this time her smile is slightly more genuine, her heart pounding as she thinks about it. "And then I broke up with him."

The room's silent when she finishes, and she begins to fidget despite her constant training to not do exactly that. It doesn't hurt - the breaking up with him, how they'd treated each other in the beginning (which she'd skimmed over because she wasn't sure she could handle retelling how their friendship had turned sour so quickly, how bittersweet it had all been); not if she focuses on how happy they had been for a while.

"First loves are destined to fail," Myung Soo says reassuringly after a while, and Tae Yeon flashes a smile that is forced and practiced, and just hopes that it will effectively fool them.

"Hey," Tan shouts defensively, and Tae Yeon finds herself laughing at his offence because pain at Tan's expense is incredibly entertaining.

"Please. If anything your first love was Young Do," Bo Na snorts.

"And first loves are only destined to fail if they're your friend first," Tae Yeon muses and Eun Sang claps, even if her accompanying giggle sounds rather strangled.

"Chan Young and I were friends first," Bo Na shouts defensively, and the memories of her relationship are already fading from her mind as the conversation moves onto different topics; their game already forgotten.

"Myung Soo shouldn't have asked those questions," Eun Sang says thoughtfully as they walk towards the bus stop. Chan Young had been abducted by Bo Na, and they were walking together in companionable silence, backpacks slung halfheartedly over their shoulders as they trudged along lazily.

Despite the fact that she'd told Min Kyung not to pick her up; she can't stop her eyes from scanning the street to look for him. Tae Yeon can handle him for the most part - after insisting he sleep in her apartment whenever he went out drinking so that she didn't have to worry, her tolerance for him was sort of inevitable - but she doesn't think she can withstand him today.

_Not after reminiscing about what my life was like less than a year ago. _

"It's fine," Tae Yeon insists even though there's a bitter taste in her mouth as she does that betrays her. "Was Tan really your first love?" She asks.

The topic change is clumsy, even if it's in conversation with Eun Sang, but the other girl is too nice and open and trusting so it's executed perfectly.

Eun Sang blushes prettily. "Yes, it's kind of weird considering how Myung Soo enjoys preaching about failed first loves."

"From what I've gathered of your relationship, he's put you through enough pain to warrant a label as a failure in itself," Tae Yeon says, and the cold words are flying out before she has the time to stop them - the pain is still fresh no matter how hard she tries to not think about it.

"You don't like him very much, do you?" Eun Sang says, and the words lack venom as they reach the bus stop and sit down.

"Not particularly," Tae Yeon says carefully, because there's no way she can explain her dislike to Eun Sang who won't understand her perspective. "Then again, I don't think he likes me that much either. And yet you're not storming up to _him _and insisting he stays away from me."

Eun Sang doesn't look all that offended, but does have the grace to look ashamed.

"Young Do's more dangerous than Tan," she answers.

"Debatable. I'm pretty sure that illegitimate or not, Tan has some serious sway with Jeguk. Neither of them are particularly threatening to me, but the way you think I need protecting is cute," she pinches Eun Sang's cheek who's looking at her bewildered.

"Why don't you like him?"

Tae Yeon sighs. "Because he's like Young Do. Because Young Do thinks just because he has money and is the heir to whatever company, he can push people around. I don't appreciate that. Especially when people threaten me upon our first encounter."

Eun Sang processes this. "I know what you mean, about the pushing around. It's kind of hard not to know," she pauses. "Theyre not always like that, they're just particularly touchy - even if they refuse to admit it."

"Unfortunately for them I'm equally as touchy."

_Tan, you really are blessed to have a girl as patient as Eun Sang. Treat her well or I'll mess you up. _

"I was there," Eun Sang says suddenly. "When you first met Tan. Did he threaten you when I wasn't looking?"

Tae Yeon contemplates her answer. "You wondered how I knew he was illegitimate, right? Because I never brought it up. How I knew he was the Chairman's son?"

Tae Yeon's sure that like Young Do Eun Sang must have at least entertained the thought of her being at Jeguk due to someone's good graces: using her as an informant.

The prospect turns her stomach.

"He knows about me too. You didn't hear the threat because you didn't understand it," the sentence is slow as she rolls the words around in her mouth. "Ex-wife or not, the Chairwoman knows him, so he knows everything that Jeguk knows about me. The story I told about my first love was the sweet version. I endured a lot throughout it, friends first or not. Even if it feels weird to sit next to you and talk about endurance," Min Kyung's torso pushes its way into her mind, blood trickling down his face. Her stomach twists violently. "You didn't hear the threat because even if its insensitive to assume this, you've never been threatened by the type of person Tan, or Young Do is. The threat reserved for people who know exactly how to threaten back."

When the bus rolls up Eun Sang is silent, and as they step onboard they immediately change the topic of conversation.

* * *

The next time Young Do sees her is at lunch the next day. He sees her besides him in class of course, but there's something different about it now. She's placing food on a tray, and although she's been here for almost a month she's still something of a novelty, judging by thew ay people continue to shoot her dangerous looks when they near her.

His own tray is full, and as she stands there coldly collecting utensils, he's reminded oddly enough of post-engagement dissolution Yoo Rachel. Abandoned by all allies yet determined to not be affected.

_You'd eat your heart out _sister_, if you saw how her act is much better than yours. _

Perhaps that's because Tae Yeon does actually have friends, not like how Rachel had only had seasonal friends like Bo Na. He knows that they're in the broadcasting room as Bo Na and Eun Sang finish something off - Tan and Chan Young probably in there too. Not that Tan would provide Tae Yeon with adequate company anyway: Tan's about as friendly as Young Do is.

Myung Soo's probably somewhere in the library taking a nap: which leaves Tae Yeon without her usual parade of soldiers.

_The last time they weren't around we ended up arguing in a hallway. What will happen this time? _

Young Do walks up to her as she turns to move to a table, smiling winningly.

She pushes past him.

_Rude_.

"Jagiya," he calls and he can tell that her blood freezes.

When she turns her face is blank. "What?"

"Eat with me." He says. It's phrased as a question but they both know it's not.

"Tempting," Tae Yeon pretends to consider. "But I'll have to refuse."

"You'd prefer to eat by yourself then?"

Everyone's eyes are glued to them, prepared for Young Do's normal hazing and he wonders if they can't tell that it's a different situation.

"Yes," she says, swivelling on her heel.

His arm wants to sling around her shoulders, so that everyone knows that messing with her is strictly limited to him - but he refrains because she's stubbornly insisting on remaining individual.

_Not that it's going that badly for you. _

_Can you not see I want to help you? _

"Don't be stubborn," he murmurs and when he walks she follows without saying a word.

_Now you listen? _

He's sitting down before he even realises what table it is. Without Tan around he'd lapsed back into the past; and is sitting at his pervious favourite table, in his old seat.

Tae Yeon says nothing, and after all that fight it's a bit of a letdown. It takes until she places her tray down on the table, so that she'll be in the seat in front of him that there's an uproar of gossip and he suddenly sees what Tae Yeon doesn't. Remembers the implications of sitting there.

Tae Yeon pulls the chair back and Young Do jumps out of his seat.

Tae Yeon tilts her head to the side, and she is infuriatingly calm and she's either acting or relaxed, calm or choked up in memories and she's too unpredictable but by now he's learned to coke with it. "SIt here instead," he says quietly, so the onlookers can't hear.

"Why?"

"Because I say so. I already warmed the seat for you," he says and then in two strides he's crossed to the other side of the table, sat in the chair and swapped their trays.

She groans and makes an offhand comment about how tired her legs are and how she doesn't have the time for his moodswings, but she sits down anyway and Young Do ignores the roar of chatter as she does so. He's drowning them out so he can't hear them, but he can guess the gist of what they're saying.

"_What does this mean?"_

"_Choi Young Do's sitting in the transfer seat!"_

Young Do is resolutely ignoring them so Tae Yeon follows his lead and remains oblivious. They say nothing for a while; Tae Yeon eating and she eats about as much as Myung Soo, delicately working her way through her bowl of noodles.

"Your revelations yesterday were pretty enlightening."

It's then he realises that he'd started all of their conversations, but this is the one time it's not because he already ahs something prepared to taunt her with.

Tae Yeon looks slightly more relaxed, as if deciding that she realises why he's called her here. Apparently she likes uncertainty about as much as he does. "I like to think I'm quite interesting."

"Maybe we could divulge more secrets."

"I see your search remains fruitless then," she says offhandedly. "But if I tell you all my secrets that's not a fun game for you, right?"

Young Do's mouth quirks.

_I knew you'd be fun. _

"And Eun Sang thought I was bullying you."

"Ridiculous. If anything _I'm _playing with _you_," Tae Yeon agrees and for a while there's nothing but the sound of chopsticks clanging against plates.

"You spoke Mandarin, right?" Young Do asks, and he tries to disguise his eagerness for her answer.

Tae Yeon leans back in her seat slightly, and nods. "My second language."

"Then what's your first?"

Young Do can see her contemplating what answer to give.

"English. My family moved there when they found out my mother was pregnant again."

"The whole one child thing?"

Tae Yeon nods. "What about you?"

"I speak Japanese, although it's mainly limited to persuading people into paying my company copious amounts of money for dodgy workmanship and questionable morals."

Tae Yeon actually laughs, and Young Do wonders how differently the last couple of weeks would have been if their first encoutner ahd beeen like this, if he hadn't gone on impulse and decided to see what kind of victim she'd be.

"Remind me not to invest in your company."

"I will, although I wouldn't recommend that. We're set to rise in stocks by one percent."

Tae Yeon laughs again, and Young Do finds himself smirking too.

"I revealed a lot yesterday," she says and she's already finished her lunch.

_How much do I miss with you? _

"Except the actual identity of your first love," Young Do interrupts.

"_Friends first". Maybe Min Kyung. _

_I'll have to watch how you interact with each other more closely next time. _

"Yet you didn't, and there's one thing _I'm _curious about," she continues as if he hadn't pspoken. "How did you and Tan become friends?"

Young Do chews it over. Questions about Tan are common, and he's sure it's mutual. They'd reached a point in their lives where the two were practically synonymous with each other; whether that be when they were friends or enemies.

People inquire after their fights, their history, what they do. Who would win a fight.

Never how it all started.

Everyone who had been around in kindergarten didn't have to ask; people were engaged in their teens but were forced into friendships as toddlers. Everyone who had come later were too preoccupied with ensuring they stayed clear out of the way.

_Why has this lasted for so long? _

"Convenience," Young Do decides finally and Tae Yeon looks so unimpressed it's comical.

"Is everything about convenience? Majority of people here have money, how much more convenient could it get?"

Young Do snorts, and Tae Yeon's eyes widen at hearing something other than harsh words leave his mouth. It's a low sound, quite like the occasional whistle he emits. Only this one sounds more conversational, _friendly _even, and he speaks quickly to cover it up.

_So much time trying to deconstruct your mask, and you've ended up shedding mine. _

"Spoken like a true welfare student. Tell me, do you aim to plan an uprising?"

"That depends," Tae Yeon says as she reaches out and snags the jelly cup from Young Do's tray. He hadn't planned one eating it anyway; but the action is still all too close to friendship. She doesn't say anything as she rips the plastic lid off and begins scooping it out with a spoon. "What do you think my odds are?"

"Considering how no one's tried to put wheatgrass juice in your locker or torn up your books, pretty decent," Young Do says conversationally. "Like it or not, Jeguk needs someone to be in charge and the previous queen vacated her position just before you arrived." Yoo Rachel was most definitely the queen, whether anyone acknowledged it or not. "And your constant defiance is causing a sense of respect for you - unwilling or otherwise."

"Good to know," Tae Yeon says around her spoon. She sucks it out of her lips with a plop. "Not that the idea of ruling over a bunch of pretentious people who enjoy spreading rumours about me is all that appealing."

"It grows on you."

"Careful there Young Do, if you convince me too much I might just take away your title," she mocks.

"You should be the one looking out, we're already playing a game, you don't want this to turn into a war."

"Was that a threat?" she asks, and her lips are tugged into what Young Do refuses to believe is a smile.

"What exactly is he threatening to do?"

_Ah Tan, you always know how to kill the heartfelt moments. _

It's some sort of sick consolation by the fact Tae Yeon looks even more unimpressed with Tan than with him.

Her arms cross over her chest as she leans all the way back in her seat. "To engage in a war. I suggest you ally with him, and he might just last a while."

Tan's hand appears on his right shoulder, and his grip is tight.

"Young Do, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Do I have a choice?" he quips, and then Tan is dragging him out of his seat and out of the cafeteria.

_I thought we agreed to be friends. Even so, isn't Myung Soo supposed to be the one dragging both of us?_

* * *

There's barely anyone outside when they get there, Tan dragging him far into the courtyard until there is no one in sight. Apparently he deems that this is good enough, and relinquishes his grip on Young Do's arm. Young Do's got a couple of inches on Tan, and it was quite amusing to see him ordering him around, amusing if it hadn't been irritating as hell.

"I thought we were past the stage of dragging each other around," Young Do says as he rights himself, purposefully making a show of rubbing at his shoulder from where Tan's fingers had dug into the bone.

"Aren't you taking this too far?" Tan asks as he stands in front of him.

Young Do regards him, as he always does. He's come quite far from the quaint boy he'd been when he'd told Young Do about his illegitimacy, a long way from the boy who hadn't known how to handle the weight that had been thrust upon him at birth.

"Aren't you taking this too far?" Tan asks, and Young Do isn't sure if he's being serious.

_You drag me out here, for this? _

"I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you not like my hair? I was trying out a different gel."

"Suggesting a war? Really?" Tan's voice has reached that pitch where it's wavering between annoying and _I-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face._

Young Do raises his eyebrows incredulously. "I know your emotions have a limited range from mopey, to sad-angry and hopelessly devoted to Eun Sang, but I thought that it was within even _your _capacity to recognize a joke."

Tan sighed that long suffering sigh of his, and Young Do wondered how they _had _become friends; if it wasn't just because it would be more effort to drift away gracefully when he'd already grown used to his aggravating attitude.

"Don't you think it's time to give up?"

"Aren't you taking this whole concerned friend act too far?" Young Do counters.

Tan cocks an eyebrow, and it occurs to Young Do that Tan thinks he's in the right in this conversation.

_You're more deluded than usual. _

"You say I'm taking things too far; but can you promise you won't do the same?"

_What's that supposed to mean? _

Young Do doesn't dignify this with a response, and Tan sighs again, clearly frustrated. "Why can't you just admit you like her?"

Young Do laughs at this. Because the idea is ridiculous, even for Tan's lovesick brain. "So you're the one who told Hyo Shin I'm seemingly endeared with her," Young Do scoffs. "We don't live in some magical mystical world where people fall in love at first sight and make heart eyes for the rest of their lives – Chan Young and Bo Na are a rather sickening exception."

_Just because you were stupid enough to fall in love with a random girl doesn't mean we're all idiots._

"I said no such thing," Tan says, and now he's looking amused as if Young Do is in denial.

_I've known her for two weeks. This is extravagant, even for you. _

"I am glad to know that he's come to the same conclusion however."

Tan's look has changed to smugness.

"An incorrect conclusion," Young Do says. His teeth are gritting and the impulse to slam Tan's head against the floor is returning, truce or not.

"Don't you remember Eun Sang? Are you saying you're not exhibiting those same signs now?"

_Cold, Tan. She must really have you concerned if you're so willing to play that card. _

"Bringing up the time I thought I had feelings for your girlfriend is a low blow Tan-ah. I thought we agreed that that was more intrigue than actual feelings."

Tan arches a brow, and it pales in comparison to Young Do's own expression. "You're saying you're not attracted to her in the slightest?"

"Attracted, yes." Young Do remembers her hands running over him, how her lips had parted as she'd exhaled. He'd wanted to run his thumb across her bottom lip, wish she hadn't moved when he'd wanted to tuck hair behind her ear. There was simply something alluring about her – the fact that she was so reactive to him. "Less in a girlfriend way, more in a I wouldn't mind relieving some of this tension in a more _pleasurable manner_," the idea had never crossed his mind before, but now that it's there it'll definitely be hard to uproot. "Although I'm sure Eun Sang wouldn't approve of that either, and isn't she the reason you're here in the first place?"

Tan's self-satisfied smirk flattens into a line. "She's worried about Tae Yeon; I'm worried about you. She's not your usual victim, and I think you know that. Don't you remember the last time you tried to provoke her? She ended up embarrassing you," Young Do felt his blood rise to a boiling point at that.

One of the advantages of being friends was that they knew each other like the back of their hands – convenient when you needed something done, inconvenient because they knew how to irk each other.

"And you're lucky that Myung Soo didn't take offence. Not to mention your counterstrike didn't exactly go successfully, did it?"

_Ah, Tan. You really should have stopped whilst you could fool yourself into thinking you were ahead. Now you've just made me vengeful. Because I never did get my revenge, did I?_

"You're right, Tan-ah. Don't worry about me either, I'm sure Tae Yeonie and I will keep the casualties to a minimum."

He begins walking back to class, and grins when he doesn't hear footsteps trailing behind him.

_Eun Sang, there's only so far you can make your boyfriend go. He knows when he's lost. _

* * *

The first bell's rung when he reaches their classroom, so people are just beginning to filter in. Tae Yeon's already there of course, maintaining her golden student image, and Bo Na's seated on her desk, chattering animatedly about something Young Do doesn't really care about.

Young Do doesn't bother to sit down, still fresh off his conversation from Tan. The fact that Tae Yeon had still one-upped him and he hadn't managed to level the playing field yet has resurfaced in his mind and its back to unnerving him, no matter the fact it very much _feels _like he's winning considering how he caught her knowing Ha Kyung; how he now knows very intimate details about her life.

_Not enough. Not if Tan still thinks she's ahead. _

"_Jagiya_," Young Do calls, and Tae Yeon turns and acknowledges him. Her eyes harden again this time, so different from how easygoing everything had been before Tan had interrupted.

She's still seated and even though he's towering over her, he's casting a shadow on her face, she doesn't cower in the slightest.

"I enjoyed our conversation at lunch," he drawls and Bo Na has swung her legs around so that she's looking at him too, as if he'll possibly be intimidated by her angry owl act. "Only I am curious. I don't appreciate it when people lie to me," he says and Tae Yeon's eyebrows shoot upwards.

"And what lie would that be?" she asks, and as people continue to enter she stands to lessen the distance between them, arms coming to cross over her chest.

He expects her to move her hair to one side, but it's already tied in a ponytail so she settles for tilting her head back to look him in the eye.

_How cute. _

"You said that you dated your first love, but I'm having trouble understanding the fact that anyone would date you."

There are far more people in the class now, and Young Do knows he's managed to hit a sore point again. Knows because her mouth twitches into a snarl and he'd seen how tight her smile had gotten after discussing it yesterday, is willing to bet her aversion to jagiya is somehow linked.

"Says the one who has to trip girls to get their attention, how do you get them naked by spraying them with water?" she quips and her eyes are pure venom.

Young Do laughs low because the memory of Eun Sang is fresh in his mind and he takes a step backwards through the aisles, palms raised as the bell rings again signaling the beginning of class.

None of their classmates make a move, all frozen as they watch this play out. Tan's made his appearance and is standing near the doorway, and judging by the way Eun Sang isn't trying to get him to do something she hasn't noticed him yet.

"Harsh words won't hide the truth for long, haven't you learnt that by now?" he asks. Her Chinese name is on the tip of his tongue, but he wants to keep it a secret for now, until he decides how best to use it. There's a nagging feeling in his stomach but he refuses to let it stop him now. "I'm sure you've never had a boyfriend. That you're bitter and came here hoping for something new."

"_Fuck_ you, Choi Young Do."

Young Do tuts. "Such vulgar words, who taught you those?"

"Your mother," she whips and Young Do can feel whatever resolve he had cracking at those words. It's a simple, everyday comeback that had become popular from American sitcoms and the like; but it still hits home.

_You've managed to hit the nail straight on the head without trying once again. _

She makes to leave, and he backs up along the aisles until they're where the teacher's desk is, and he blocks her way. "Your heart must really have gotten broken," Young Do whistles and her fists are clenching so hard he's sure there will be small crescent shaped marks in her palm. "Someone must have embarrassed you in the past for you to be so cold now."

Tae Yeon's mouth opens and closes, and she hisses, closing her eyes. He counts ten seconds as she inhales and exhales, and he's sure that she's trying to calm herself. Her backpack's on her back and one hand comes to grasp at the strap as she continues to breathe slowly.

_Don't slow down now, not when this trainwreck is going so well. _

Tae Yeon pushes past him, and she looks on the verge of tears – whether angry or sad he's not sure, and a strange pang appears in his chest. It's alien and strange, quite like her, so he does what's natural and sticks his foot out so that she trips, falling to the floor.

Her backpack apparently wasn't on securely, and slides to the floor, landing on her knees. Tan is glaring at him by now, and he can hear someone jump to their feet from behind him, and he doesn't bother to check to see who it is.

All he can see is Tae Yeon on her knees, hair falling out of her ponytail now and her chest is heaving with what is either sobs or rage and he's willing to bet it's the latter. When she fell her skirt had lifted and he'd glimpsed her black underwear (don't all girls wear shorts under their skirts nowadays?) and he's sure the rest of their class had too, but instead of feeling that familiar pang of arousal all he feels is the urge to be sick.

"Is this how you landed a boy? By dropping to your knees? Is that why you left? Because you gave him everything and were embarrassed? Can you still look Min Kyung in the eye?"

The words are cruel even for him, because he'd never known that he would make crude comments about something as sensitive as that – but he remembers how easily she'd reacted in his presence, how warm and open she'd been and can't help but consider the possibility. He's not sure how he feels about it, and it's too late now for him to think about it thoroughly.

Tae Yeon stands, and her legs are shaking and just as he's about to add something else, probably more of a hindrance than help.

Before he can say anything however, she's whirling around and a hand lands on his face, barely missing his nose. It lands high on his cheekbone, and it's exactly where the bruise she'd noticed had been. He knows it's not on accident.

"That was for assuming you know anything about my friends, for thinking that you have the right to talk about them," she says and her chest is heaving and the teacher still hasn't appeared.

Then she lunges forward again but Young Do is stuck to the spot, and she punches him in the ribs, and he's had enough hits to know it's going to bruise.

_Lucky it wasn't the back, I have enough old bruises there. _

Not that that stops it from hurting like a bitch.

No one has spoken, or even attempted to shout at him for what he's said. Tan is still standing in the doorway, and that's when he realizes that the teacher is pushing her way into the classroom and appraising the situation warily.

It's not their usual social welfare teacher, or even their horribly pronounced English teacher. Instead, it's a quaint old man who looks like he might faint at the prospect of having to yell at Young Do.

"What's going on here?" he asks, and Tae Yeon chooses that exact moment to pick up her bag from the floor. The teacher looks at the red marks on her knees, from her bag on the floor and the flustered look on her face.

"Nothing," Tae Yeon says, and she bows even when the rest of the class is still standing on their feet. "We were just playing around when I fell, Young Do ensured that I was okay," her words come out in a snarl even though her mouth is contorted into a sick smile.

"I'm feeling rather dizzy right now," Tae Yeon says and then she's pushing her way out of the classroom and the teacher is demanding order.

Tan appears and places a hand on his shoulder, and pushes him back until he's in his seat.

Everyone's throwing him dirty or concerned looks and he deflects them all. He zones out for the rest of the day, because all he can think about is the haunting look in Tae Yeon's eyes.

A look that said, _be careful. _

Young Do might have been the one to trip her, but he was sure that sooner or later she'd ensure he ended flat on his face.

_I've never believed in regret, yet right now that's all I feel. You asked me if my talk of war was a threat, was that the answer you were expecting?_

_When did I decide that was the answer I wanted to give?_

* * *

_Ah, it's 1.08AM and I have just finished writing this - forgive any mistakes because I was too lazy to proofread. Things are escalating and I hope I'm doing them justice! The next chapter is the chapter I've been looking forward to the most - and features the appearance of Yoo Rachel and Choi Dong Wook. _

_What fun. I do love me some Rachel. _

_What do you guys think? Think Tae Yeon's going to be getting her revenge more successfully than Young Do? Think her reaction was fair / too far? _

_Never as good a reaction as Jan Di's spinning kick on Boys Over Flowers of course. _

_The whole conversation between Tae Yeon and Eun Sang was kind of unnecessary but I like their friendship, and although Tae Yeon appreciates Eun Sang being worried for her - she's more than used to having to deal with everything by herself; especially because Min Kyung gets her involved in all sorts of shenanigans (I've had pretty good feedback on Min Kyung too and I'm sooo glad)._

_I also hate how speech heavy the question scene was but it was a means to an end, got stuff out there yo._

_Next chapter will be done whenever, but seeing as I am willing to do anything other than study hopefully soon! As always I love the comments you guys read me, and I'll respond to them :) If you guys want to drop me messages about what's up with you or anything (as some of you do uwu) hit me up on my tumblr!_

_Until next time!_

_(And now I collapse from exhaustion)._


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